


Love, Will

by The Tozier Wheeler Twins (omfgiminlovewithneeks)



Series: I Just Want You to Be Happy [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Diverges after season 2, F/F, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Post-Season 2, Sequel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2020-05-19 22:58:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 23,557
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19365478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/omfgiminlovewithneeks/pseuds/The%20Tozier%20Wheeler%20Twins
Summary: In which Dustin tried to fix everything, Will tried to snuff out his feelings, Lucas grew impatient, Mike was a mess, and the girls got tired of how oblivious all the boys were.This is the sequel ofDear Will, so make sure you're familiar with all the things that had happened before reading it.





	1. Valentine's?

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone, and welcome to the (hopefully) long-awaited sequel of Dear Will.
> 
> In case I haven't made myself clear, if you haven't read Dear Will, you'll have no idea what's happening here, so please go ahead and read it first.
> 
> For those who have read it, enjoy!

Dustin and Will had been dating for almost two months, and things had never been better.

Well, not really, but the curly-haired teen had no idea how to fix it. He’d love to say something like _‘yeah, sure, our friend group has never been as close as after Will and I got together’_ but Jane would’ve given him a death stare with that kind of lie. And it wasn’t like he hadn’t tried to keep things normal.

After everyone had gone back to Hawkins, he’d gotten yet another talk, this time from Hopper of all people. It was a pretty funny talk, actually, if the guy hadn’t casually rested his hand on his holster the entire time. Of course, he knew the chief wouldn’t just shoot him, but it hadn’t made things any less scary.

That had been the least awkward thing to happen. One of the more serious things was that, after the trip, Will had been acting a little weird whenever he was around both Mike and Lucas. Well, _a lot_ weird, and technically, his boyfriend had started acting weird around the end of the trip. The cleric couldn’t seem to maintain eye contact with either of them for more than a couple of seconds before having to look away, and Dustin had noticed that the hazel-eyed boy had been avoiding looking at their two best friends. That had definitely confused the blue-eyed teen, since Will had been the one worrying about their group dynamic changing after everything. The bard couldn’t figure out why his boyfriend was reacting that way. Or, to be more precise, he’d come up with an idea or two, but had ultimately decided that _‘my boyfriend is having second thoughts about me’_ was a topic for another day. After all, it was quite impossible to forget that Will had actually wanted it to be Mike, and everyone also knew Lucas would’ve been able to treat Will better. He supposed he could just give Will all he deserved for however long he had before everyone ultimately decided that he wasn’t good enough for the cleric.

That was also the other serious thing. He’d noticed that Max and Jane had been talking about him behind his back. More precisely, he didn’t _know_ it, but he knew that the two girls tended to change the topic or stop talking altogether if they saw him approaching. He didn’t need a rocket scientist to point out why people normally did that.

Well, Dustin couldn’t do anything about the second thing, but he could try to solve the first thing somehow. At least, that was his intent every time he suggested that the party hung out together. Theoretically speaking, if they all had to interact with one another constantly, they had to address the problem at some point. Right?

 _Wrong._ The awkwardness had been there for more than a month now, and he was certain everyone in the party was aware of it. After all, they couldn’t have been _that_ blind.

“Okay, that’s it,” Max groaned, startling the curly-haired teen from his train of thoughts. “Jane and I are going out for some fresh air, and we are _not_ going to join you guys after school either.”

They were at their usual table at lunch, talking about their classes and their plans for later, which basically consisted of going to someone’s house to do their homework. Or at least they were trying to, since Will had been quite reluctant to give his input, and if Dustin was being honest, he’d been slightly distracted as well. He didn’t need to be an expert to know the redheaded girl had been quite fed up with it.

“Max!” Lucas sighed as the girl stood up. “What’s wrong?”

“You know damn well what’s wrong,” the blue-eyed girl huffed. “I’m sorry, but neither of us would be able to focus if your minds kept being all over the place.”

“We’re not all over the place,” Mike protested, his cheeks turning slightly pink.

“Of course not,” Jane rolled her eyes at her ex-boyfriend. “Ask Dustin to see if he can repeat _anything_ you’ve discussed. Anything at all.”

Suddenly, all eyes were on him. Jane and Max were literally challenging him with their eyes, Mike was practically pleading silently, and Lucas and Will were sending him half sympathetic half guilty looks.

“I— Uh,” he tried to think of something, anything to say, but still drew a blank. “Sorry, guys,” the bard said sheepishly.

Mike sighed in defeat, and Max let out a huff. “It’s only Wednesday, and things are already like this,” she remarked before walking away with Jane. “This is ridiculous.”

The four boys sighed as they watched their friends walk away. Dustin didn’t blame them for getting frustrated — he was getting pretty frustrated himself. However, since this was a whole new territory, he wasn’t sure if he should confront his boyfriend about it. Usually, the one who knew what to do in a Will-related situation was Mike, but right now, the paladin was kind of part of the problem himself. Furthermore, the dungeon master wasn’t Will’s boyfriend, and he definitely shouldn’t have continued thinking about relying on others with this kind of things.

“Think I’m gonna talk to them,” Lucas said before standing up. “Just— You know?” He shrugged before leaving as well.

 _That went well._ Dustin sighed. He needed to find a solution to this. _Fast._

“So,” Mike cleared his throat and tried to change the subject, “do you guys, you know, have any plans for tomorrow?”

 _Of course it’ll have to be this topic,_ the curly-haired teen mentally groaned. Today was February 13th, or as Dustin liked to call it in his head, the final day before his first major ‘are you a good boyfriend’ test. This would be his first time ever celebrating Valentine’s Day, and there was no doubt that everyone was going to evaluate his performance on Friday.

“We don’t, actually,” the cleric said, shaking his head. “Mom asked me to come home immediately after school, so maybe Dustin and I will celebrate it later.”

The paladin raised an eyebrow at Will’s answer, before turning to the blue-eyed teen with a questioning look. **_Are you behind that?_ **

The answer would be yes. He wanted to take Will out on a surprise date, but there was absolutely no way it could be a surprise if somehow he just made up an excuse to not do something, or if he just disappeared without an explanation. Therefore, he had to rope Joyce in on this. It hadn’t been too difficult, since all he wanted to do was make the hazel-eyed boy happy, and the woman also wanted the same thing.

 **_I have no idea what you’re talking about,_ ** he shrugged as an answer. “What about you?” The bard grinned. “Any plans for the special day?”

At that question, Mike rolled his eyes, but there was a hint of a blush on the pale boy’s cheeks. “Nothing too special,” he mumbled.

When he’d asked that question, Dustin had only meant to redirect the conversation. He definitely hadn’t anticipated that reaction or that answer. The curly-haired boy’s eyes widened, and he could see Will having a similar reaction. “Oh? So there _is_ a plan?”

“I didn’t say that,” the dungeon master huffed.

“You didn’t say there wasn’t,” Dustin countered. “Who’s the lucky soul?” He was sure that he hadn’t neglected his friends enough to not know about any new developments in their personal lives.

“None of your business,” Mike said, crossing his arms and trying to be nonchalant about it, despite his face turning redder by the minute.

“But it _is_ my business,” the blue-eyed teen frowned. “As your friend, I have to know if they’re right for you.”

He was definitely _not_ jealous at all. He had a wonderful boyfriend whom he loved, and who loved him. He didn’t care if one of his old crushes moved on or whatever because he’d definitely snuffed out his feelings for both of them already.

“It’s nothing romantic or anything,” Mike sighed, “so you don’t need to worry about that.”

“But—”

“Dustin,” Will gently put a hand on his shoulder and smiled, “it’s fine if Mike doesn’t want to talk about it.”

There was something strange in the look the cleric gave him, so the curly-haired teen just turned to his boyfriend and pouted. “Fine,” he mumbled. “But I’m definitely bringing this up if he shows up on Friday with a hickey.”

 

 

* * *

 

It wasn’t too surprising when Lucas approached Max and Jane shortly after they got to the bleachers. They hadn’t expected someone to follow them, but if one of the boys did, it’d be the ranger.

“Was that necessary?” The boy asked as he sat down in front of them.

“Yes, it was,” Max rolled her eyes. “You’re all being ridiculous. Will is acting weird in front of you and Mike, and Dustin is desperately trying to make up for that. Yet none of you seems to want to address the problem.”

“It’s not like I know what the problem is,” her ex-boyfriend sighed. “Can’t exactly do anything about it, since as far as I know, addressing it might make things worse.”

“Said no therapist ever,” she huffed. “Plus, I can cut the tension among you guys with a knife. Might be better if you just grab each of them and kiss them senseless.”

“You know I can’t do that,” Lucas groaned. “They’re gonna freak out. Especially if I do that to their boyfriends in front of them.”

“Well, you said Mike didn’t freak out when you kissed him,” Jane hummed. “That one you can kiss, right?”

“And I also told you, it was a one-time thing,” the black boy scrunched his face. “It was New Year, and we already had alcohol in our systems.”

 _One-time thing my ass,_ Max thought. For some magical reason, Lucas couldn’t see that Mike was just as interested in him. In fact, her ex-boyfriend could see pretty much everyone’s attraction towards each other, except when it was directed at him. The only consolation was that, unlike Will and Dustin, this idiot didn’t think he didn’t deserve love.

That would have to change on its own, since she wasn’t going to give him any spoilers.

“How many times have we told you?” Jane rolled her eyes. “We are certain that all of them have feelings for you as well.”

“You can’t be sure of that,” the ranger scoffed.

“We can, because we’re not blind idiots,” Max retorted.

“And even _if_ you’re right, and I’m not saying you are, what am I supposed to say to them?” Lucas shot them a glare. “Should I just walk to them and go ‘hey I have feelings for all three of you and Max said you also feel the same way as well so let’s have a foursome?’”

“Actually, I would love to see how that plays out,” Max smirked. “Don’t suppose I can convince you to do that, can I?”

“Not even if you use your dying wish.”

“But about that,” Jane interrupted, “I think I might have a solution.”

“A solution to what?” Lucas asked.

“I’m not sure yet,” she shrugged. “But at least it’ll make them think about the possibility of you guys being together.”

“And how are you supposed to make that happen?” The boy inquired.

“Easy,” the telekinetic girl smiled mischievously, “I called for backup.”

“What backup?” Lucas frowned.

 

 

* * *

 

Will was trying to blend into the background. Of course, knowing the boys, there was no way any of them would let that happen. Or, at least, his boyfriend wouldn’t.

It wasn’t even Mike’s or Lucas’ fault either, but it was just a little difficult for him to spend time around his two best friends, and it definitely wasn’t because he was dating Dustin now.

To be more precise, the fact that he was dating one of his best friends wasn’t the problem. The problem was how, despite being in a perfectly wonderful relationship with someone he had feelings for, he still couldn’t seem to shake his feelings for the other two. That was also accompanied by the numerous emotions, which he knew were all familiar but had decided not to label them, that had washed over him when he’d accidentally seen Mike and Lucas share a New Year’s kiss. As the cherry on top, the conflicted feelings he’d felt in his chest had only made the involuntary reaction around his pelvic area more confusing.

And since then, every time he looked at Mike and Lucas together, those feelings, and more importantly, that image returned, and he had to avert his eyes. Needless to say, that had made spending time with the whole Party extremely awkward, but he had a pretty strong fight-or-flight instinct, and he couldn’t exactly fight this. And of course, his wonderful boyfriend, who had noticed his behavior, had been trying to compensate by interacting with the other two more, which had resulted in even more awkward situations. It was pretty ironic as well, since the one who had expressed his concern about the group dynamic changing, was now the one who caused that change. Once again, the universe had decided to turn his whole life into a huge joke — something he definitely didn’t appreciate.

They were currently in the AV room, like they always were every Wednesday. Dustin had decided to _‘make some modifications’_ to the equipment, and now he and Lucas were trying to fix the deafening pitch that came on whenever they turned on the device. True to their word, Max and Jane hadn’t joined them, so the only other people in the room right now were him, Mike, and a sophomore named Andy who had mysteriously shown up after the break. The good thing about the kid showing up was, they didn’t have to worry about the club not having any members after they all graduated. The less good thing was, since it wasn’t just the Party in a room anymore, he and Dustin couldn’t freely be affectionate — not that it had happened often in front of the whole Party either. Also, Andy was now watching his boyfriend bicker with Lucas with a look in his eyes that made Will _slightly_ uncomfortable. He wasn’t sure who was the receiving end of that gaze, but it only made him want to go there, sit on Dustin’s lap, and pull Lucas in for a hug while maintaining eye con—

 _Wait, what? No!_ The cleric mentally slapped himself. _Lucas is with Mike, not me._

Technically, he hadn’t talked to either of them about that, but from the way they had kissed each other, he was fairly certain that if they hadn’t been together at that moment, they probably were now. He was also certain that Lucas was Mike’s secret date for tomorrow, and that was why he hadn’t even remotely felt curious when Dustin had brought that up earlier. He wasn’t sure if he actually wanted to know that, since on the one hand, seeing your crush with someone else had been said to be one of the most effective ways to get over someone, but on the other hand, if he was already turned on by the thought of them kissing, he didn’t want to know what would happen if he started thinking about—

 _Okay. Stop it right there._ He definitely did not want to finish that thought. The cleric tried to tune back in and see what everyone was doing. The Andy kid was still looking at his boyfriend and Lucas _like that,_ and he immediately averted his gaze again in annoyance. The bard and the ranger didn’t even pay any attention to the kid, since they were too busy bickering. It wasn’t even an option choosing who to focus on, between a kid he’d seen maybe five times, and the two he’d known his whole life.

_Wait. Where’s Mike?_

That was when he realized, there were only three people in front of him, and he was already leaning against the wall. Approximately half a second after that, the brown-haired teen flinched when he noticed his last best friend had been standing next to him the whole time. The paladin obviously hadn’t expected him to not know that, since the taller teen also flinched at Will’s sudden reaction.

“Sorry,” the hazel-eyed teen said sheepishly, “you startled me.”

“I should’ve announced myself,” Mike chuckled and shook his head, “so it’s my fault as well.”

Talking to one of them was easier, since it was easier for him to focus on literally anything other than _the thing,_ but it still didn’t make the awkwardness go away.

“Have you decided on where you want to go after this?” Will asked. 

“I thought we were going to Lucas’ to study?” Mike raised an eyebrow.

“No,” the shorter boy shook his head, “not _this._ I meant after graduation.”

Each of them had applied to tons of different colleges, but none of them had actually talked about it. He knew Dustin wouldn’t because he wanted to make him as happy as possible, and he knew he wouldn’t because he didn’t want to think about a future where all of them were apart from one another. He didn’t know why Lucas and Mike hadn’t brought it up yet, and he briefly wondered if they actually had, with each other.

“I guess it’ll have to depend on where I get accepted to,” the paladin said softly. “Right now, I just know I want to get away from Hawkins.”

“Yeah,” the hazel-eyed boy nodded, “me too.”

“No, you don’t,” Mike shook his head and sent him a sad smile.

“I don’t, but at the same time, I do,” Will corrected.

It was true that he didn’t want to leave Hawkins. In this town, he had a loving mom, a stern yet soft stepdad, and five wonderful friends who would do anything for him — one of them was also his stepsister and one was his boyfriend. Going away would be the same as leaving all those wonderful things behind. Of course, he knew his friends would also be leaving, so technically the only thing he would leave behind was his family, but if none of them left, then he wouldn’t need to worry about that.

However, he also wanted to leave this town, not only because of the nightmares they’d all gone through here, but also because this place had held him and his friends back too often. He knew how interesting a lesson could be if the teacher was passionate about it, so he knew that most of the teachers only taught because it helped pay the bills. The students also picked on the smart and creative ones, even though they worshipped singers and actors, and used things invented by smart people on a daily basis. The government had chosen Hawkins as one of their lab locations for a reason — nothing ever happened here. This was a good town for people like his mom and Jim, who’d found what they’d been looking for and was now looking forward to settling down. It certainly did nothing to help those with dreams and ambitions, or simply those who wanted to hold their boyfriend’s hand freely without being beaten to death.

“So, where do you want to go, then?” Mike asked. “You know, if you get accepted to all your dream colleges.”

“I don’t know,” Will sighed. “Maybe Columbia. It’s easier to choose if I can narrow down my options, but I’ll have to take scholarship into account as well.”

“Yeah,” Mike chuckled. “Don’t worry. They have to be crazy to let a talent like you go to waste.”

“You don’t know how good the others might be,” the cleric shrugged. “I’m probably just a grain of sand in the vast desert.”

“I know you’re surrounded by grains of sand in the vast desert,” the dungeon master corrected, “but you’re definitely a diamond.”

“Diamonds are neither that rare nor pretty, you know?” The hazel-eyed teen smiled and shook his head.

“We all heard your boyfriend’s rant last week, thank you for reminding me,” the taller boy grinned back.

“Yes!” Dustin’s voice drew both their attention away. “I fixed it!”

“Excuse me? _You_ fixed it?” Lucas asked incredulously. “I was the one who told you to check the capacitor.”

“But _I_ was the one who actually did it.”

“Ladies, calm down,” Mike groaned as he walked towards the two, breaking up their fight, and Will decided to stay back and watch his friends.

He missed those conversations with Mike. The last time they’d had one of those had been on Christmas Eve. The hazel-eyed teen let out a sigh. It wasn’t anyone’s fault but his that they didn’t have those these days. If he’d been able to keep his thoughts and feelings in check, things would’ve been a lot less complicated.

He needed to try that, again and again. No matter how difficult it was, he would eventually succeed. There was no way he’d sabotage either his friendship or his relationship because his imagination kept running wild.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think about this? Like it? Hate it? Feel like your character is being unfairly treated? Let me know in the comments below.
> 
> I have the outline of this fic written already, but nothing is set in stone just yet, so feel free to tell me what you'd want to see in the comments and I'll incorporate it in something if possible.
> 
> I plan to update this fic every week but we'll have to see how it goes, since I'm dealing with some personal stuff and might miss an update or two.
> 
> Until next time!


	2. Date Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone!
> 
> It's been a while since I last updated this. I didn't mean for it to be this long of a hiatus, but I assure you I'm not dropping this.
> 
> I hope it's worth the wait. Enjoy!

This Thursday sucked.

It was the only day of the week where he didn’t share a single class with any of his friends. Not with his boyfriend. Not with Mike or Lucas. Not with the girls. No friends whatsoever to help him through the extremely long school day where the teachers kept droning on about subjects they most definitely weren’t interested in. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. It definitely didn’t help that it was extra draining for him to participate in activities when he knew nobody in the room. Well, nobody he knew enough to actively spend time with outside of school anyway. Of course, he had a few friends in other classes as well — he wouldn’t have been able to do group work otherwise — but they were the politely-nod-when-encountered kind of friends, not the you-are-invited-to-my-monthly-meltdown kind. So overall, other than at lunch, he was all alone at school. However, what made this the worst Thursday of the year was, it was Valentine’s Day.

Valentine’s Day at school was the worst. It was the epitome of a capitalist holiday, with pink hearts on every door and locker, balloons at every corner, and students delivering roses to boys and girls for a price. It wasn’t that he didn’t like celebrating this day, but he didn’t think this was the right way to do it. Everyone at school was using this day as a chance to either show off or measure how popular someone was, and he didn’t need to be an expert to know it was definitely not the spirit of the holiday. After all, there was no other explanation for spending a hundred bucks to deliver a dozen roses to your girlfriend during lunch break — and yes, he  _ had _ looked and it did cost a hundred bucks for that particular student service, or ten dollars per rose. Fortunately, none of the party members had ever participated in this particular way of celebrating Valentine’s Day, and Will also didn’t need to tell Dustin not to do anything like that, since the other boy definitely knew that if he walked into the gym and asked them to deliver a rose to Will Byers, the only thing both of them would get was a serious beating.

That didn’t mean they couldn’t celebrate it at all, though. Will didn’t even need it to be anything extravagant — just a simple night in, ordering takeout and watching movies with Dustin was enough. They didn’t even have to watch anything romantic, since he was definitely more than okay with watching something geeky he knew they both enjoyed. However, that couldn’t happen either since his mom wanted his help with something after school, and he didn’t exactly know how long that would take, since she wasn’t even home yet. Perhaps, if they finished whatever they were going to do early enough, he could ask Dustin to come over and hang out. In the meantime, he’d have to settle for the brief moments he’d gotten with his boyfriend when the curly-haired teen had picked him up in the morning and taken him home in the afternoon. However, aside from sharing two brief kisses, they hadn’t had any couple-grade interaction either. Needless to say, this had been the worst day in his relationship so far.

Shortly after 4pm, his mom finally came home and revealed to him why she’d asked for him — she needed him to help her prepare for her date with Jim later. It was a little odd, since she’d never asked him to do such a thing before, but he was flattered nonetheless. Also, bonding time with his mom was always fun, and after she left, he could always ask his boyfriend to come over. Furthermore, when Joyce suggested going through his wardrobe to choose potential outfits for his future dates with Dustin, Will agreed without hesitation. After all, he must’ve spent at least six hours trying to coordinate his clothes before his dates with the bard, and they’d gone to three dates in total — including the turned-out-it-was-a-date not-date.

 

* * *

 

Dustin started sweating the moment he knocked on the door, which was less than ideal since he’d taken two showers before coming to the Byers. He didn’t even know he sweat when he got nervous. This was totally new to him.

According to his plan, after dropping Will off, he only had until 5pm to get everything ready for the night, which he’d quickly burned through second-guessing everything. This date he’d been planning had no originality whatsoever, and that was a huge minus. Dinner and a movie had been one of the most mainstream things ever, and even then, the restaurant wasn’t even his idea — it had been Lucas’ restaurant from the whatever-it-had-been day he’d spent with the ranger. Furthermore, how cheap did someone have to be to show up on their boyfriend’s doorstep with two roses? If this didn’t show everyone how bad he was at being a boyfriend, he didn’t know what would.

One good thing was, the moment Will opened the door, his brain decided to take a quick break from thinking. After all, it was quite difficult to have a coherent thought with how breathtakingly beautiful the shorter boy was right now.

“Dustin? What are you doing here?” The cleric asked, his eyes widened.

“I— Uh,” the curly-haired teen cleared his throat, “I’m here to take you out on a date.”

“What?” Will’s brows furrowed. “But—”

“Hi, Dustin,” Joyce emerged from behind the hazel-eyed boy, “you look gorgeous, honey.”

The bard quickly learned that there was nothing that’d make his face turn red faster than being complimented by his boyfriend’s mother in front of his boyfriend. “T-Thanks, Mrs— Uh, I mean Joyce.”

“I’m gonna go back to getting ready now,” the woman smiled at him. “You kids have fun, and remember to bring him back by 10,” she said with a playful wink before turning around and leaving them alone.

Joyce’s words had definitely made the blue-eyed boy more nervous, although he was pretty sure the woman didn’t mean to.  _ ‘Bring him back by 10,’ she said, as if I’d planned to do something. _ Not that he didn’t  _ want _ to do something, but they hadn’t even been dating for two months yet. Granted, they’d been kissing before they’d started dating, and he  _ had _ spent nights in Will’s bed, and they were both teenagers, with teenage hormones and—  _ Where am I going with this again? _

“Are those for me?” Will asked, snapping him out of his train of thought. His boyfriend’s eyes were on the flowers in his hand.

“Oh, yeah,” he smiled sheepishly as he offered them to the cleric. “One rose for each month we’re together. For some strange reason, nobody agreed to sell me one and a half roses, so you’ll have to settle for two.”

“I think I can manage,” the hazel-eyed teen chuckled. “So, does this mean you roped my mom into this? She asked me to help her pick an outfit for her date, but so far I’m the only one with a date-worthy outfit.”

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” Dustin grinned. “I didn’t think I could magically be busy without raising your suspicion, and you’d never forgive me if I showed up unannounced and dragged you away without giving you time to prepare, not that you needed it anyway.”

“So, where are we going tonight?” Will asked.

“Nowhere too exciting, I can assure you that,” the curly-haired boy shrugged. “But we’re going anyway.”

“Anywhere is exciting when I’m with you, dumbass,” the shorter teen rolled his eyes.

“But I’m your dumbass,” the bard countered.

“That you are.”

 

* * *

 

“You really caught me by surprise with this,” Lucas chuckled as he got out of Mike’s car and into the diner.

“Well, that was the plan, after all,” Mike grinned as he followed his friend.

Earlier that evening, he’d shown up in front of the ranger’s house and announced that he’d drag Lucas out of the house because they were the only people in the group without anything to do that night. Sure, that had been a rather lame excuse, but at least he hadn’t lied — Dustin had been acting dumb but Mike knew he’d been planning something for Will, and the girls were also on a date tonight. Therefore, it made total sense that the two single members of the Party should also hang out. If he also had an ulterior motive for doing that, then nobody needed to know. Well, nobody but Max and Jane, who he’d secretly asked to help him make sure Lucas would be free this particular evening.

It might be a little weird, asking for help from your ex-girlfriend and the ex-girlfriend of the guy you wanted to ask out, who happened to be dating each other, but it wasn’t like he could go to anyone else for this. Normally, Will would’ve been his first choice, but since the cleric hadn’t exactly been acting normal around him, he had no idea how to approach this. And if he couldn’t talk to his best friend, then the best friend’s boyfriend, who also happened to be his best friend, should be out of the equation as well. Plus, he’d come to the conclusion that looking for advice to date a boy he liked from the boy he’d had feelings for since even before he realized he liked boys, and the boy he’d been developing feelings for, who also happened to be dating each other, might’ve been weirder than asking the ex-girlfriends.

The paladin was quite confident that his plan wouldn’t turn into a huge trainwreck, since he’d been fairly certain that the ranger had been flirting back as well. Sort of. Maybe. He definitely needed to stop thinking about that if he didn’t want to freak out before his best friend even started ordering.

“Can I ask questions now?” The other teen asked once they were comfortably seated.

“Don’t you want to think about what to eat first?” Mike asked with a grin. It had been his first and only rule of the night for Lucas — he couldn’t ask questions until they arrived at wherever they were going. Of course, the boy didn’t have the habit of bugging someone until they gave in like a certain curly-haired teen, but it couldn’t hurt to be cautious.

“Really?” The ranger raised an eyebrow. “The only two options are either fish and chips or spaghetti and meatballs. Maybe I’ll have the latter, in case you want to re-enact something from  _ Lady and the Tramp, _ ” he said with a smirk.

_ That right there! That had to be flirting, right? Or is he just comfortable enough to joke like that around me? _

“I— Uh, yeah,” the pale teen cleared his throat, “I think I’ll have the meatballs as well.” He quickly signaled the waitress in order to have something to do other than freaking out.

“So, why are you taking me out today?” Lucas asked, lacing his fingers together and resting his chin on top of them. That made Mike feel like he was being interrogated, which, in a way, he was.

“Can’t I just want to hang out with you?” He snorted. “After all, I owe you one after you took me out.”

“First of all, you don’t owe me anything,” the ranger rolled his eyes. “I didn’t do that so you’d repay me one day. Second, if that’s the case, why today, then?” He looked at Mike in a strange way that made him feel like the black teen could see everything he’d been hiding.

“Well,” he bit his lips, “we’re the only ones without any plans for today, so it makes sense for us to hang out.”

The dungeon master’s hands started to get colder as Lucas’ gaze pierced through him. There was something about the other boy that made him feel like the ranger knew exactly what was happening.  _ I’m not that obvious, am I? _

“And that’s the only reason?” The black teen raised an eyebrow. “Because this feels like you’re taking me on a date.”

“What? No! Of course not!” Mike said a little too hastily. His heart was threatening to jump out of his chest, and it would be a miracle if his friend didn’t hear it. “Unless you want to?” He added sheepishly.

The moment those words left his mouth, Lucas made a sound that was a mixture of a snort and a chuckle that made his heart stop.  _ What was so funny about that? Did I read everything wrong? Did I just make a fool of myself? _ “What?”

“Nothing,” the ranger shook his head and leaned back in a relaxed manner.  _ That makes one of us. _ He was looking at Mike with an amused expression that the paladin couldn’t decipher, which only made the teen a lot more nervous. “You just brought up an old memory, that’s all,” the other boy finally said. “So, what else have you planned for this date?”

The dungeon master was definitely blushing now.  _ He called it a date. This is actually happening. _ It felt weird that his plan was actually working now and that he didn’t have to call it ‘hanging out’ this time, although he supposed he couldn’t have called his day with Will ‘a date’ since they had just stayed at the Byers and goofed around.

“You’ll just have to wait to find out,” he managed to say it with a smile.

 

* * *

 

The date with Mike had gone exceptionally well, considering how Lucas had always thought of the taller teen as romantically inept. It wasn’t like the other boy couldn’t do anything sweet — he could without even realizing it, but when it came to romance, their dungeon master had always been kind of awkward. However, as they were now heading back home, he could confidently say that this had been Mike’s best effort on Valentine’s Day — better than any of his previous plans with Jane, not that he was being biased or anything.

Okay, maybe he was being  _ a little _ biased.  _ The boy I like took me to dinner and to a drive-in cinema. On Valentine’s Day. Sue me. _ He could’ve used a less cheesy movie than  _ The Notebook, _ but he didn’t think many couples would’ve preferred  _ My Bloody Valentine. _

“So,” Mike cleared his throat, breaking the comfortable silence they’d been having, “after graduation, where do you want to go the most?” The paladin had a sad smile on his face, and Lucas couldn’t help but feel a little forlorn, thinking about a future where each of them would be in a different corner of the world. Sure, he knew it was coming, and not talking about it wouldn’t make time move any slower, but that didn’t make it any less uncomfortable to think about.

“I suppose,” he sighed. “Harvard is the only Ivy League school I applied to, so if I can get in, it’ll be nice.”

“I thought you might say that,” the taller teen chuckled softly. “Massachusetts, huh? Even further from Hawkins than New York.”

“What can I say?” The ranger had a gentle smile on his lips. “I’m quite ambitious, after all. But I’m not sure I’ll get in, so better not get my hopes up.”

“I’m sure you’re gonna get in,” the dungeon master said confidently. “They have to be blind to not see how great you are.”

In times like this, Lucas was extremely grateful for his superpower of being able to blush without getting noticed. He could feel his cheeks heating up from Mike’s compliment, and if he’d possessed Mike’s pale skin tone, even people from the ISS would’ve seen him by now. “Thanks, Mikey,” he said with a grin. “What about you? I’m sure you also have some places in mind already.”

“I’m not entirely sure,” the other boy shrugged. “I do have several options in my head, but none of them stands out just yet.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Of course, I kinda wanna go to NYU or Columbia, but I also kinda don’t wanna live too close to Nancy. I don’t wanna live across the country either, although being on the West coast does sound nice.” He hesitated for a bit more before continuing quietly. “And Boston University isn’t bad either.”

It took the ranger about half a second to get what Mike was implying, but when he did, his face heated up so much, he was certain it was glowing red. If the paladin got into Boston University and he got into Harvard, they could technically share an apartment. The two schools were less than ten minutes away from each other, so best-case scenario, he wouldn’t have to say goodbye to all his friends — in fact, they could live together until one of them eventually got sick of the other.

“Y-Yeah,” Lucas cleared his throat, “Boston sounds good. But don’t you have any school that lands higher on your list?” He definitely didn’t mind the other teen choosing that school, but if the dungeon master did it purely because of him, then it would be the stupidest things he’d ever seen or heard of, and he had known Dustin for most of his life.

“Not at the moment,” Mike shook his head. “If I’m being honest, before this conversation with you, I didn’t even have any idea which part of the country I’d want to live in.” He started slowing down, and not until then did the ranger realize they were almost at his house already. “I know it might be ridiculous, but I don’t want to think about what my life will be half a year from now.”

“Trust me, it’s not ridiculous at all,” he assured the taller teen. “I don’t like thinking about it either. But it’s coming, no matter if we like it or not, and I don’t think you guys are gonna be too happy if I’m underprepared for my own future.”

They’d stopped in front of his place now, and the moment he left the car, it would be the end of his date with Mike.  _ Date. I just went on a date with Mike Wheeler. _ He guessed the girls weren’t entirely wrong, then. Mike wouldn’t have done all of this if he didn’t have feelings for him too.

“I’m sure none of us has prepared for it yet, so we’re not gonna judge you for that,” the dungeon master said before putting his car in park and turning to him. “You know, I, uh, I had a great day today,” he said sheepishly. “Thanks.”

“What are you thanking me for?” The ranger rolled his eyes. “You were the one who just took me on a date. I should be thanking you instead.”

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” the paladin said before starting to bite his lips. Lucas knew this sign. The other boy was definitely nervous, and maybe he was a terrible friend, but seeing that actually calmed him down a lot. “So, this is it, then?”

“Yeah, this is it,” he nodded. The black teen knew what was going on in his friend’s brain — or at least he hoped he did. The fact that Mike looked like he was building up his courage to do something, combined with the fact that they’d just gone out on a date, gave him an idea or two about what the taller boy was trying to do. After a brief moment to consider whether he should act oblivious and mess with the raven-haired boy a bit more, or just be merciful and relieve the taller teen of this stress, he decided that it was already nice enough of the dungeon master to take him out, and that he should take it easy on his best friend. The ranger slowly leaned in, closing the distance between them, but not without paying close attention to the expression of the other boy to see whether he’d misread the situation and made a total fool of himself. Luckily, Mike looked utterly relieved before he, too, leaned in and connected their lips.

Kissing Mike was definitely something he wouldn’t be able to get used to, no matter how many times he did it. In a way, that made sense, since this had been the first guy he’d ever had a crush on, and he’d been wondering how the paladin’s lips felt like since they were in seventh grade. Of course, now that he knew the answer to that, there was no way his mind wouldn’t ask for more. However, that didn’t mean he didn’t remember where they were — parked in front of his house, where his parents could see clearly should they decide to look out the window. If that hadn’t been the case, he doubted he would’ve been able to pull away from the breathtaking Mike Wheeler.

“Thanks for tonight,” he whispered, “I had a lot of fun with you.”

The paladin’s face was turning into a tomato, and he absolutely loved that. He also loved the fact that apparently, he’d rendered the taller teen speechless. “Alright,” he smirked and opened the passenger door, jumping outside, “I’ll be expecting to hear from you when you get home.”

And with that, he headed inside his house, fully aware that a certain pair of dark brown eyes were watching him the whole time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, did you like it? Hate it? Want me to improve something? Let me know in the comments.
> 
> Classes are about to start again, so depend on the workload of my courses this semester, my schedule might be affected a bit. However, I do plan on keeping the pace I set for myself when I began writing this, so hopefully you'll be getting a new chapter every weekend.
> 
> Until next time.


	3. The Talk

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, and welcome to the next chapter of Love, Will.
> 
> I was thinking about posting this a bit later but maybe you've been waiting long enough, so enjoy!

Will didn’t care what anyone thought, to him, his Valentine’s date with Dustin had been perfect.

Of course, most of his friends wouldn’t have said anything contradicting him, but a certain blue-eyed boy didn’t seem to be on the same page as him. His boyfriend didn’t say anything to him directly, of course, but the bard had apologized for  _ ‘not being more original’ _ twice throughout the night, and he’d like to think that he knew his curly-haired knight in shining armor well enough to read between the lines.

Dustin had always been the most cheerful person in the Party. However, beneath that happy smile that could light up the world lay an extremely insecure boy. Will knew that boy very well, had seen him many times before — such as when the bard had been hell-bent on insisting that Will could never have thought he’d be happiest with the blue-eyed teen. The cleric even remembered a story Mike had told him a long time ago, about how his boyfriend didn’t think he could compete to be the dungeon master’s best friend because he neither knew Mike as long as Will nor lived as close as Lucas.

He’d also told Dustin tons of times before that it wasn’t a competition. It had never been a competition. None of them could, and none of them should compete to see who was a better friend. Each of them was already the best by being themselves, by caring for others in their own ways. Dustin was already the best boyfriend by being Dustin, by caring for the hazel-eyed teen the way he did, by making everyone smile, by trying to fix the awkwardness between the Party members that the cleric had created.

Will had made sure to compliment his boyfriend every chance he got to make sure that the date had gone wonderfully. And if that hadn’t been enough, then he certainly hoped the last half an hour of making out on his front porch had said what he hadn’t been able to convey with words. Technically, the curly-haired teen  _ had _ dropped him off before 10pm like his mom had said. However, Will didn’t see a reason for him to go inside alone when his mom was also on her own date. Therefore, if he’d gotten lost in his own world being sandwiched between Dustin and the wall for a moment, then his mom didn’t need to know.

By the time Dustin’s car pulled away from his driveway, it was already 10.40pm. If he was being honest with himself, that probably would’ve gone on for a lot longer if they hadn’t had to worry about the bard’s curfew as well. Still, as he unlocked the front door and got inside, there was a bubble of giddiness in his chest that was impossible to burst.

Or at least, that was what he thought.

“Good evening, Will,” his brother’s voice pulled him away from that tiny world where only he and Dustin existed, back to his living room.

The sudden presence of the older Byers sibling made the cleric jump a little from where he stood. “Jonathan! You startled me,” he said breathlessly. “Wait, you’re back? When did you get back? How long are you back? Why are you back?”

“Easy there, buddy,” his brother chuckled and shook his head. “I just got back right before mom left for her date, and I’ll have to leave again this Sunday,” Jonathan said with a smile. “How was your Valentine’s date?”

The hazel-eyed teen’s cheeks immediately turned scarlet red at the mention of his date. He bit his lips, but couldn’t stop a smile from forming. “It was great,” he said sheepishly.

“I bet it was,” Jonathan grinned, “considering you’ve been on that front porch for half an hour.”

And just like that, Will started blushing for a whole different reason. “I— I didn’t— I mean, we— Jonathan!”

“Calm down,” his brother laughed out loud. “I’m not gonna ask what you guys were doing out there. There are things brothers don’t need to hear.”

Somehow, that made things even worse for the brown-haired teen. “We were just kissing,” he said exasperatedly. “We didn’t— I mean, I— he—”

“Let’s change the topic before you die of embarrassment, okay?” His brother said, although the guy’s expression didn’t seem like he had an ounce of sympathy for his little brother. “Do you have any plans after school tomorrow?”

Will raised an eyebrow at the question. “No, not really,” he replied. “Why?”

“Well,” his brother sent him a wink, “I want to take you out to dinner.”

 

* * *

 

Mike still felt like he was in a trance even after he’d gotten home. He’d gone on a real date with Lucas, done things people did on real dates, and at the end of it, the ranger had kissed him. Although it hadn’t been the first time they kissed, this time, there was no alcohol, no New Year’s kiss, no excuses, nothing for either of them to pretend they didn’t want it. Mike hadn’t realized how much he’d wanted it until that moment in the car, when he was trying to muster enough courage to kiss his best friend before the other teen left his side. In a way, that had felt a bit like when he’d first kissed Jane, but at the same time, it couldn’t have been more different. With Jane, that had been a kid’s first crush, a puppy’s love. He didn’t know how strong his feelings for Lucas were, but one thing for sure, they were a lot stronger than anything little Mike Wheeler could’ve comprehended.

The moment he walked into his house, the paladin immediately took his phone out and sent Lucas a text message.

> **_> >To: Lucas_ **
> 
> **_Thank you for today :)_ **
> 
> **_I know you said I shouldn’t thank you but still_ **

Of course, Mike knew he didn’t just have strong feelings for one of his best friends, but there wasn't anything he could do other than ignore his feelings for the other two until they finally went away. It wasn’t like he could find a book in the library about how to stop liking someone.

Lucas’ replied came almost immediately, and it would be a lie if he said he didn’t read it as soon as his phone buzzed.

> **_> >Lucas_ **
> 
> **_Thank you as well_ **
> 
> **_I wouldn’t mind doing those again, you know?_ **
> 
> **_Going on dates and kissing you and all_ **

The last message had definitely made the dungeon master’s heart stop. He wasn’t sure if he was overanalyzing it, but that sounded like the ranger was saying they didn’t have to go on dates to kiss each other. But then, maybe the teen hadn’t meant that at all. Maybe he was just reading into things. What was he supposed to do in this situation? Should he ask about it, or would it make things awkward between them? It was true that he’d been in another relationship before, but Jane’s vocabulary and word choice were a lot simpler than most people, so he’d never had this kind of problem.

After a moment, the paladin decided to just not mention it, just in case he’d misunderstood and would make a fool of himself by saying anything. Instead, he focused on another thing he wanted to ask.

> **_> >To: Lucas_ **
> 
> **_Do you want to tell the others?_ **
> 
> **_That we went on a date, I mean_ **

This was another sensitive topic, in Mike’s opinion. If he didn’t say anything when Lucas wanted him to, it would feel like he wanted to keep them in the dark. On the other hand, if Lucas didn’t want the others to know and he accidentally exposed them, things would be even more awkward. Of course, if it had only depended on him, he wouldn’t have minded letting his friends know. However, this wouldn’t just affect him and Lucas, but the rest of the Party as well.

This time, the ranger took some time to respond to his message, which, given the question, was expected of him.

> **_> >Lucas_ **
> 
> **_I don’t mind letting them know but_ **
> 
> **_Things have been weird lately_ **
> 
> **_I don’t want to make them more awkward_ **

That was also one of the things Mike had been worried about. Without this new development, it had been weird enough between Will and them. He didn’t want to imagine how things would be if he and Lucas started dating.

Speaking of which, he also needed to talk to the other teen about their status.  _ Are we together now, or…? _

“Jeez, I’ve been sitting here for fifteen minutes and you didn’t even see me,” Nancy’s voice snapped Mike out of his thoughts and put him back in his living room. His older sister had been watching him text Lucas the whole time.

“Nancy?” The paladin furrowed his brows. “What are you doing home?”

“Nice to see you too, you twat,” the older girl rolled her eyes. “Can’t I just want to visit?”

“But it’s the middle of February,” Mike pointed out. “And it’s a Thursday. What are you doing coming back here today?”

“Say, are you free tomorrow afternoon?” Nancy asked.

“Why?” This was starting to get suspicious to the dungeon master.

“Okay, now you’re not.”

“Nancy!”

 

* * *

 

Mike hadn’t responded to the message Lucas used to test the water at all, and that was making him a little nervous. Since the date had been Mike’s idea, and the raven-haired teen had been the one who’d  _ wanted _ to initiate the kiss, it wasn’t too far fetched of him to hint that he might want that in the future.  _ Right? _

However, when the paladin didn’t reply to his answer, that was when his brain started going a hundred miles per hour.  _ Did he not like it? Did he want to tell everyone, and got disappointed by my answer? Or did he not want to tell anyone, and me saying I didn’t mind freaked him out? _

The ranger could feel himself spiraling, so he forced himself to put down the phone and went down to the kitchen to grab a glass of water to calm himself down. Of all the boys, he believed he had the best way to deal with overthinking, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t affected by it. That was why the black teen had to keep reminding himself that he knew his friends, and his friends wouldn’t do anything to hurt him.

His phone buzzed, and Lucas had to take a deep breath and remind himself not to overreact as he read the text. However, it wasn’t a message from Mike, but from Will to their group.

> **_> >Cleric_ **
> 
> **_Guess who came back to Hawkins today to take his brother out for dinner tomorrow?_ **

Lucas raised an eyebrow at the text. It was quite unusual for Jonathan to visit on a Thursday. Usually, the older Byers boy would be back on Friday evening and leave on Sunday morning, spending his Saturday with Will.

However, before he even thought of what to reply to the hazel-eyed teen, messages started flooding the group.

> **_> >Paladin_ **
> 
> **_Not a “he” but Nancy?_ **
> 
> **_Jonathan is taking you out too?_ **
> 
> **_> >Bard_ **
> 
> **_Wait, you guys too?_ **
> 
> **_Steve just dropped by all dressed up_ **
> 
> **_Think he just came back from a date_ **
> 
> **_Said he’d take me out for ice cream after school_ **
> 
> **_> >Mage_ **
> 
> **_?_ **

Before he could continue reading, there was an incoming call from Max.

“Hello?” The ranger picked up, frowning a little.

“How was your date with Mike?” The redhead asked, not bothering to greet him.

“How did you know about that?” Lucas inquired.

“Because Mike asked us to make sure you’re free today,” Max huffed. “Now answer my question, stalker.”

“I’m the stalker now?” The teen rolled his eyes. “Which of us knew what the other did today again?”

“C’mon, I just knew he wanted to take you somewhere,” the girl snorted. “And you definitely knew I was going out with Jane tonight as well.”

“That was different,” the ranger scoffed. “You two are dating, of course you’d go somewhere tonight. Mike and I aren’t dating.”

“And he still took you out on a date,” his ex-girlfriend said matter-of-factly. “Told you it wasn’t a one-time thing.”

“So you knew because he told you he’d ask me out?”

“We knew because we weren’t blind idiots who thought their best friends didn’t have feelings for them,” Max said with a mocking tone. “But you still haven’t answered my question. How was the date?”

At this, Lucas’ face heated up again. “It was okay, I guess?”

“Just  _ ‘okay’? _ Are you sure?” The redhead asked sardonically.

“Fine,” he huffed, “it was great. Happy?”

“I will be when you guys all get together,” the girl said in a singsong voice.

“I told you yesterday,” Lucas groaned, “even if they did like me, I don’t see how I could even bring up that conversation.”

“And that’s why your calvary just arrived,” Max said in an ‘isn’t it obvious’ tone.

“What calvary?” The ranger asked before remembering what they’d been talking about in their group. “Wait. Jonathan, Nancy, and Steve?”

“I assure you, we didn’t tell them anything,” the girl said, as if knowing what he was about to accuse her of. “Just like us, they have eyes and also saw what we saw.”

“Are you gonna make it your mission to call us blind idiots now?” Lucas rolled his eyes.

“If the shoe fits,” Max hummed.

“But I still don’t understand how they’re gonna help with this problem.”

“You’ll just have to wait till tomorrow.”

 

* * *

 

It was only the middle of February, yet Mike was certain this would be the most awkward situation he’d ever be in through the whole month. Nancy treating him to dinner was a little awkward, but Nancy treating him to dinner at the very place he’d taken one of his crushes on a date less than twenty-four hours ago was  _ a lot _ awkward. Luckily, the waitress wasn’t the same as the one from the day before, or else he wouldn’t know how to hide from this whole thing.

~~* * *~~

“Why are you taking me out for dinner?” Will asked for the umpteenth time. It wasn’t a rare occurrence that Jonathan brought something home for both of them, but taking him out was a step too much. It would’ve made sense if it had been his birthday, but that day was still exactly five weeks away.

“Can’t I just want to spend some quality time with my brother?” Jonathan chuckled. “It’s been ages since we last hung out together, just the two of us.”

~~* * *~~

“But there has to be a reason you’re treating me like this,” Dustin huffed. “This is my favorite shop. You’re trying to bribe me,” he accused. “What did you break?”

“Jeez, calm down, Henderson,” Steve rolled his eyes. “I didn’t break anything of yours.”

“Then what is it?” The bard glared at the young adult in front of him. “You’re nice, but not  _ this _ nice out of the blue.”

~~* * *~~

“Fine,” Nancy rolled her eyes, “I also have something I wanna tell you.”

That would make more sense to Mike, if he was being completely honest. It wasn’t that they weren’t close, or that he didn’t think Nancy would be this nice, but they weren’t the type of siblings to do this to each other — although both of them would treat Holly to dinner in a heartbeat. There was just something about their dynamic and the circumstances in which it was formed that prevented them from being the type of siblings the Byers were.

~~* * *~~

“So what is it you want to tell me?” Will asked after placing his order. They were in a cute little Italian restaurant that he wouldn’t have known existed had Jonathan not taken him there. Maybe he could take the bard here sometime if the food was good. Although, knowing his older brother’s taste, he had no doubt that anything here would be amazing.

“It’s kind of something big,” Jonathan sighed, “so I was hoping you’d get something in your stomach first.”

~~* * *~~

“Well, then you shouldn’t have told me that,” Dustin scowled. “Seriously, Steve, how am I supposed to enjoy the ice cream with you hanging something over my head like that?”

“You were the one nagging me to tell you, shithead,” the young adult snorted. “If you knew you wouldn’t be able to enjoy it then you shouldn’t have asked for it in the first place.”

“Well, how am I supposed to know I wouldn’t be able to enjoy the ice cream knowing that?” The bard huffed. “You knew I wouldn’t be able to, so you should’ve stopped me from asking you.”

“I  _ did _ tell you to stop asking, asshole,” Steve rolled his eyes. “You were the one who didn’t stop.”

“Anyway, now you  _ have _ to tell me what it is,” the curly-haired teen insisted.

“Fine,” the older guy grumbled. “Remember all the trips I took to get away from my parents?”

“Yeah,” Dustin snorted. “Kinda hard to forget when you keep disappearing every few weeks.”

“Do you wanna hear it or not?” Steve scowled. “Anyway, on those trips, I went to New York.”

There was a brief moment of silence before the bard raised an eyebrow. “Oh?” He asked. “Quite a long trip to get away from your parents. Couldn’t find any place closer to Hawkins?”

“I didn’t go to New York to get away from my parents, dickhead,” the young adult huffed.

“Oh?” Dustin’s eyes widened. “Why did you, then?”

~~* * *~~

“I’m dating Steve,” Nancy finally said, eyeing her younger brother for a reaction.

At first, there wasn’t any, but after a moment, Mike’s eyes widened. “Oh?” He said. “Again?”

“Well, if you put it  _ that _ way,” the older girl rolled her eyes. Saying ‘again’ made her feel like she was some kind of artist in an on-and-off relationship with her boyfriend to get on the front page of some tabloids.

“Well, Steve  _ is _ a good guy,” the paladin shrugged. “But you’re still sharing the apartment with Jonathan? Aren’t things gonna get awkward?”

“Not really,” Nancy sighed.

“Why not?”

~~* * *~~

“Because I’m dating Steve, but I’m dating Nancy, too,” Jonathan explained.

He could see the exact moment the information registered in his little brother’s brain. Will’s expression immediately switched from shock to anger in the span of half a second.

“Jonathan!” The younger boy exclaimed. “How could you? Nancy and Steve are both good people. You can’t cheat on both of them like that!”

“No, Will,” he tried to calm the teen down. “You misunderstood.”

“What is there to misunderstand?”

~~* * *~~

“I’m dating Nancy, and I’m dating Jonathan,” Steve said, “but they’re dating each other, too.”

The moment the curly-haired teen finished processing that information, his eyebrows disappeared into his hair. “What?” He exclaimed.

“A little louder, why don’t you?” The older guy huffed. “I don’t think they heard you in the next town.”

“Sorry,” the bard winced before adjusting his volume. “But how is that possible?”

Steve stared at the younger boy for a moment before sighing. He supposed he’d need to have this conversation as well. “You see, when you get in the bedroom—”

“Oh my God, shut up you dirty-minded asshat,” Dustin groaned and covered his ears. “I wasn’t asking about that.”

“You weren’t?” Steve raised an eyebrow. “What were you asking, then?”

The blue-eyed teen scowled at his brother figure. “Like, how can you date more than one person at a time?”

~~* * *~~

“Well, you can’t control who you like, right?” Nancy asked patiently, the way she used to explain things to Mike and Holly when they were little. “So sometimes you like more than one person at a time. Sometimes, those people like each other as well. If you all sit down and talk to each other, I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”

“But how would you know if they like each other and you?” Mike furrowed his eyebrows.

~~* * *~~

“You talk to each other,” Jonathan said, like it was the most simple answer of all time.

However, that didn’t satisfy the cleric. “But—”

“No, Will. No buts,” his brother shook his head. “When I realized I had feelings for Steve, it was really scary, because I still have feelings for Nancy, and I felt like I was doing something wrong to her just by having those feelings. But then the day I sat down and confessed that to her, she also admitted that she’d never really gotten over Steve either.”

~~* * *~~

“So they called me up and told me they both have feelings for me, and asked me if there was any chance I could reciprocate their feelings,” Steve shrugged. “In the end, I didn’t have to keep my distance and try to get over them like I’d planned. It all worked out just fine.”

“Just like that?” Dustin asked.

“Yeah,” the young adult nodded. “But it’s easier for the couple to approach it,” he continued. “When I was an outsider, I thought if I got closer to either of them, it would tear them apart, and I love both of them too much to do that. So it’s easier for the couple to agree to invite another person into their relationship. At least that was the case with us.”

~~* * *~~

“But is it really okay to love more than one person?” Mike asked, biting his lips.

“Of course it is,” Nancy nodded. “Obviously, it’s not the norm, and if it’s not the norm, people will have something to say about it. But as long as the ones who matter don’t care, the rest don’t matter.”

~~* * *~~

“That’s why I wanted to tell you,” Jonathan smiled softly at his brother. “You matter the most to me, so you deserve to know about the most important part of my life.”

~~* * *~~

“Just remember,” Steve summed up, “it’s never wrong to have feelings for more than one person, as long as you don’t hurt anyone with them.”

Dustin was now looking at the older guy in a whole different light. He’d never thought it was possible to be with more than one person at a time. This past couple of months, he’d been trying to snuff out his feelings for Mike and Lucas because he was already with Will. But now, Steve had just told him that it was okay for him to have romantic feelings for all his friends. Even more than that, since he knew for a fact his boyfriend also had feelings for the other two, they could talk about it and work it out somehow.

That wasn’t his biggest problem, though. There was just no way Mike or Lucas would have feelings for him. If they all sat down and talked about it, perhaps Will would change his mind and decide that he wanted to be with Mike and Lucas. Perhaps if they talked about it, Mike and Lucas would realize their feelings for each other.

Perhaps it would be best for everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What do you think about this? Like it? Hate it? Have something you want to add to it? Let me know in the comments.
> 
> I really hate the texting format but unfortunately, it would be weird for them not to text in a modern setting fic, so that had to happen.
> 
> Until next time.


	4. Bad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone, and welcome to the next chapter of Love, Will.
> 
> It's been a really long time since I last updated this, but here's my attempt to remind you that I definitely haven't dropped this (or any of my other fics).
> 
> Enjoy!

It had been a little more than two weeks since Will’s conversation with his brother about Jonathan’s relationship status, and it had certainly put something in his head. Or rather, those thoughts had been in the back of his mind for a while now, and the new development had brought them to the front.

Sometimes, and by that he meant about five times a day, he found himself imagining what things would be like if they were all in a relationship. He imagined being able to hug Mike and Lucas the same way he hugged Dustin. He imagined being able to glare at that Andy kid in their AV club whenever the boy got slightly too affectionate with Mike or Lucas, which was almost all the time. Not that he hadn’t been doing that already, but then he wouldn’t have to feel guilty because those two weren’t his in the first place, and he could only lie to himself and say he was being protective over his friends for so long.

On the bright side, he wasn’t the only one who felt a sudden surge of jealousy whenever the sophomore made a move on either his boyfriend or Lucas. Mike could be extremely possessive if he wanted to, and by the look of it, he definitely wanted to. The paladin’s knuckles were white as he gritted his teeth like he was imagining punching the kid in the face.

On the not-so-bright side, the fact that his best friend was jealous meant the dungeon master definitely had romantic feelings for the ranger — not that he’d thought otherwise before this. Will had spotted Lucas and Mike stealing glances and shooting each other looks sometimes when they shared a class. Usually, whenever that happened, one of them would turn around to look at him — and his boyfriend too if Dustin was also in that class, prompting the other to look as well, and he would have to avert his gaze. That and the fact that his two best friends had been giving him and Dustin more  _ ‘private quality time’ _ told him that there was definitely something between them.

“Are you guys trying to see if you can set things on fire by staring at them?” Max whispered behind them, making Will’s heart jump. “Because I’m not gonna lie, that would be pretty cool, enough for us to give you fifty points each.” Jane was standing next to her, shooting the two of them a knowing look.

They were once again in the AV room, watching Andy flirt with Dustin and Lucas. At least that was what it felt like, since the kid had  _ accidentally _ broken the radio and was now watching the two fix it, with one hand casually resting on Lucas’ shoulder.

“We’re not staring,” Mike huffed and looked away.

“For that, you just lost twenty points,” Max hummed.

“All acts of giving or taking points must be discussed and agreed among all Party members,” the paladin reminded the girl.

“I wasn’t talking about Dustin’s point system,” the redhead rolled her eyes. “I was talking about your ‘cool points’ in my book, and you, Michael, just lost another twenty — not that you had that many to begin with.”

“Whatever,” the raven-haired teen grumbled.

“What about you, Will?” Max turned to him. “Are you gonna lie about staring as well?”

His cheeks turned beet red from that comment, and he averted his eyes, not answering the question.

“You know,” Jane said softly, “it’s okay to be jealous.”

“But I don’t want to be jealous,” Will replied, his voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t want to be that kind of boyfriend.”

“But it’s okay to be that kind of boyfriend,” Max smiled at him. “As long as you don’t control him, it’s okay to not want other boys to hit on what’s yours.”

“I also think you should tell Dustin how you’re feeling,” Mike chimed in once he was no longer the topic. “Unless you don’t want him to tell you if he’s jealous.”

Once the paladin put it that way, there was no way for him to back out of it. Of course, he wanted his boyfriend to tell him about things like this, but that didn’t mean he had to like doing it. “I hate it when you’re right,” he mumbled.

“I’m always right,” Mike chuckled and raised his arm a bit, before letting it fall back to his side.

Of course, Will hadn’t missed that, and he hated that he felt a pang in his chest when it happened. He also hated that he wished Mike hadn’t aborted that gesture.

Back in the day, the paladin had a habit of putting his arm over Will’s shoulder. The gesture had made him feel warm and safe, and he’d grown to love it over the years. However, since he started dating Dustin, the raven-haired teen had stopped doing that — or rather, he’d been stopping himself from doing that. In a way, that made sense, since Mike wouldn’t want the bard to misinterpret anything and get upset, but that didn’t make the cleric miss it any less, even though he knew he shouldn’t.

“Anyway, I’m gonna go fetch those three,” Max cleared her throat, either oblivious to or ignoring Mike’s slip-up and Will’s inner turmoil. “We better leave now if we want to finish our homework before midnight.”

From that moment till the end of the day, Mike didn’t look him in the eyes anymore.

 

* * *

 

Dustin knew he needed to have this conversation sooner than later. He’d rather have it later, but he knew he owed it to Will to do this as soon as he could. After all, everyone could feel the tension in the air — or as Steve had once described it,  _ the electricity. _ All he’d ever wanted was for Will to be happy, and he had been too selfish to do that. He knew the other boy was upset, but had chosen not to act on it and to convince himself that  _ this _ was also what the cleric wanted.

Though none of them had talked about it, he had a feeling that Mike and Will were also aware of their siblings’ relationship. After all, Dustin was smart enough to see that there was something fishy about Steve telling him on the same day Nancy and Jonathan took Mike and Will out respectively. By that logic, Will would know he could date both Mike and Lucas by now.

Mike might’ve told Lucas about it as well. Since the bard had functioning eyes and a working brain, he could see that there was something going on between the paladin and the ranger, and since that  _ something _ had started after Valentine’s Day, when Mike had gone out on a date with someone, he had several ideas about who the mysterious lucky person could’ve been.  _ Or one idea, but a good one. _

So, he’d established that there was something between Mike and Lucas. He also knew that those two both had feelings for Will, and he definitely knew that Will had feelings for them too. Steve had told him about how it was better for the couple to approach the person they wanted to ‘invite into their relationship’, but he doubted his two friends would do anything as long as Will was still with him.

“Dustin?” His boyfriend cleared his throat. “You haven’t been paying attention.”

They were at Will’s, watching  _ Love, Simon _ together in the living room after having finished their homework. Lucas and Mike had offered to give him and Will some  _ ‘private quality time’ _ before leaving, but he knew those two were probably enjoying it as much, if not more than he was right now.  _ Definitely more. _

“Yeah, sorry,” the bard said sheepishly. “I just— I think we need to talk.”

Will furrowed his eyebrows but nodded and turned to him. Suddenly, the curly-haired teen felt like there was an invisible hand squeezing his heart.

“I’ve been thinking about breaking up,” Dustin blurted out.

Unsurprisingly, that had been the completely wrong thing to say, if Will’s shocked expression and the tears forming in his eyes indicated anything.

“Wait, no, that’s not what I meant,” the bard hastily said and pulled his boyfriend in for what he hoped to be a reassuring hug. He mentally slapped himself for doing a phenomenal job in not hurting the poor cleric. “Can we start that part over?”

Will took a shaky breath and slowly nodded, still on the verge of crying.

“Look,” the curly-haired teen sighed, “I know you know about Steve, Nancy, and Jonathan. I knew something fishy was going on when they all took us out on the same day.”

“What does that have anything to do with us breaking up?” The cleric’s lower lip was quivering.

“Steve told me that usually, or, you know, as usual as this thing goes, the couple in a relationship will be the ones to approach the third person about this stuff.” Dustin was having a hard time keeping himself together during this conversation. It didn’t matter if he’d rehearsed this over and over in his head, what he wanted to do — well, not  _ ‘wanted’ _ per se, but what a good  _ friend _ should do — still hurt. “I know you still have feelings for Mike and Lucas, and I know they won’t do anything as long as we’re together.” The implication was there, and he knew his boyfriend would definitely not miss that.

What he hadn’t anticipated, however, was the punch Will threw at his chest. It was clear that the shorter teen had aimed for the part that could probably withstand the hit, but also that he’d wanted it to hurt. “Ouch!” He groaned. “What was that for?”

“For being a jerk,” the cleric huffed. “Did you want to give me a heart attack or something? Why did you start this conversation with that? And this,” his boyfriend slapped his arm, “is for starting this conversation at all. How could you even think that I would break up with you?”

“I know you won’t,” the blue-eyed teen sighed. “That’s why I’m doing this. Listen, Will—”

“No!  _ You _ listen, Dustin,” the shorter boy stabbed his finger in the bard’s chest. “I have a wonderful boyfriend whom I love, and I’m not going to break up with him just because he thinks my two other best friends who are probably dating have feelings for me. Nu-uh,” the boy raised a finger as Dustin was about to interrupt. “Even  _ if _ they did have feelings for me, it still wouldn’t change the fact that I love you, you idiot. You’re my boyfriend, and you come first, okay? So if you think doing that would make me happy, you’re terribly mistaken.”

There wasn’t anything the curly-haired teen could say to respond to his boyfriend’s outburst, but that didn’t mean he completely agreed with all the things Will had said. Of course, he believed that Will had feelings for him, and of course, he knew that Will would want to put him first, because  _ for fuck’s sake it’s Will. _ However, he believed the cleric had underestimated how happy he could’ve been being with the other two. Even if he was as good as Lucas or Mike, and he seriously doubted that, two of them still would be twice as good for Will. It was just simple ma—

“Ouch!” The bard groaned as he got hit in the arm again. “Why, now?”

“Because I know you, and I know that look on your face,” Will grumbled. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop, because it’s not true. I love you, and I wouldn’t give you up for the world.”

“Okay, but what if Mike and Lucas were a part of that world?” The curly-haired boy countered.

“What do you mean?” The hazel-eyed teen furrowed his eyebrows.

“Like, what if a supervillain kidnapped all three of us, and made you choose whether to save me or them?”

“I’m not gonna choose,” the cleric huffed. “I trust that the four of us together can find a way for us all to live.”

“What if it doesn’t work like that, though?” Dustin pushed. “What if you’re holding two triggers, and you have to release one to save the other, and if you release both or neither, all of us will die?”

“Then so be it,” Will crossed his arms. “I’d rather let us all die together than live in a world without either of you, and I know you know neither Lucas nor Mike would want to sacrifice you either. You’re not gonna go Sophie’s Choice on me.”

“Wait,” the bard’s eyes widened, “so you’re gonna kill all of us instead?”

“No,” his boyfriend rolled his eyes, “because that scenario is never gonna happen. If you want to prove me wrong, go get yourself a supervillain.”

Dustin huffed and rolled his eyes at his boyfriend. Maybe one day he would. However, right now, there was no way the cleric would’ve been happier with the other two by breaking up with him.  _ Not with that attitude, anyway, _ he thought. He probably needed to change that fir—

“Ouch!” Will had slapped his shoulder again. “What is it this time?”  _ Did he suddenly learn how to read minds? _

“I don’t know. I’m still mad at you,” the shorter teen huffed. “This could’ve been a nice afternoon.”

“It still can,” Dustin rolled his eyes. “Wanna go out for ice cream?”

 

* * *

 

“Will you cut it out already?” Mike grumbled as they walked alongside each other in the mall. “Even if it was funny, which it wasn’t, it would’ve stopped being funny half an hour ago.”

“Still pretty funny to me,” Lucas grinned as he tried not to burst out laughing again. The teen couldn’t help but disagree with his friend. The incident had been the most hilarious thing he’d witnessed in a while.

“Oh, so  _ that’s _ what gets you off? Me getting hurt?” The raven-haired boy scowled.

“Guilt-tripping isn’t gonna work and you know it,” the ranger said in a sing-song voice. “Plus, you did it to yourself.”

“Actually,  _ you _ did it to me.”

“Hey,” Lucas rolled his eyes, “I’m not the one who sucks at catching stuff with his mouth.”

Earlier in the afternoon, they’d hung out in his room, doing silly things like throwing candy at each other and catching them in their mouths. Of course, they’d done that countless times before, and nobody could brag about having a perfect success rate. The fact that Mike had missed this time would’ve been nothing if, while bending down to pick the candy up, the boy hadn’t smashed his face into the windowsill in the most iconic and hilarious way possible. Lucas still burst out laughing occasionally whenever he thought back.

“Whatever,” Mike huffed. “C’mon, I think there’s a shop downstairs with cuter pins.”

After goofing around for a while, they’d decided to continue with their quest to find Will a perfect birthday present. It was definitely not an easy task, since with what Dustin had done on Christmas, there was almost no way for either of them to come up with an original idea. He and Mike had opted out of hanging out with the happy couple for the fifth time now, but they were still no closer to having anything even remotely good enough.

“What if,” the black teen mumbled, “we pool our money and buy him the Lego Death Star together? It doesn’t have to be a big one. The one in Homecoming is good enough.”

“Are you crazy?” Mike asked incredulously. “First of all, how is that one not a big one? Second, do you even know how much—”

“I know,” the ranger rolled his eyes. “That’s why I suggested buying it together.”

“Do you just happen to have three hundred bucks lying around?” The paladin cocked an eyebrow. "Because I have, like, fifty at most."

“Well, no,” Lucas huffed, “but maybe we can do it. Dustin—”

“Dustin spent an entire year preparing for his plan,” the raven-haired teen reminded him. “Will’s birthday is in less than a month. Plus, are you really trying to one-up Dustin right now?”

“What? No!” He furrowed his eyebrows. “I just thought we could take a page from his book and not try to do it alone.”

“Well, even if we manage to buy one, which is an impossible feat, anyway,” Mike rolled his eyes, “I think Dustin would be a better recipient for that present.”

The taller teen had a point. It wasn’t that Will wouldn’t love the Lego Death Star, but the boy would’ve enjoyed a new set of colors or something even more. Building a galactic superweapon model was more in their bard’s territory.

“Okay, then,” Lucas sighed. “I’m officially out of ideas.”

“That’s because you’re still thinking like you,” Mike shrugged.

“Gee, thanks Mikey,” the ranger snorted. “I’ll try to be less myself, then.”

“That’s not what I meant,” his friend groaned. “You’re still trying to make it grand, make it special somehow. Sure, he’s gonna love it, but you don’t always have to do that to make Will happy. He’ll be ecstatic even if you give him a nice bookmark or something, as long as you think of him.”

When Mike said it like that, he wanted to say ‘duh, obviously’ or something similar, but the truth was, his brain wouldn’t have gone that way if the paladin hadn’t pointed it out. “Wow,”  _ ‘I guess you do know him the best’  _ was what he thought, but what Lucas said was, “you do love him a lot, don’t you?”

The statement had caught his friend by surprise. The other teen’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second before he turned away bashfully, his cheeks darkening. “You do, too, you know? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have suggested buying him a six-hundred-buck present.”

That was a subject that had been hanging over their heads for a couple of weeks now. Ever since their date, they’d been hanging out together a lot, but they’d never done anything more than sitting a little closer to each other. Lucas was pretty sure Mike had feelings for him, they were both certain the other person was in love with Will, and the ranger had a hunch his friend also had feelings for a certain blue-eyed teen. Unfortunately, there never seemed to be an opportunity for them to talk about it.  _ How does one even talk about this kind of stuff? _

“I mean, that does sound nice and all, but— Mike?”

The taller boy’s attention wasn’t on him anymore, and as he followed the guy’s eyes, the reason became clear to him. Will and Dustin were standing by the ice cream stall, staring at them with a mixture of emotions on their faces.

It was probably one of the most awkward three seconds of his life before Dustin gave them a hesitant wave — which Lucas returned with his own, only second to the following three seconds before he and Mike slowly approa—  _ Okay, scratch that. This entire situation is getting more and more awkward. _

“Hey, guys,” he greeted once they were close enough to each other. “What are you doing here?”

“Ice cream,” Dustin replied, gesturing to the both they were all standing in front of. “What are  _ you _ doing here?”

He and Mike shared a look before the paladin turned back to their friends and started scratching the back of his head. “We were… uh, looking… for… stuff,” the guy said eloquently before nudging him oh-so-discreetly. The ranger knew they couldn’t just say they were here looking for a birthday present for Will, but this attempt to lie on the spot might cause more harm.

“Y-Yeah,” Lucas nodded. “We heard about this… uh, this place, at—”

“Mike?” Will interrupted. “Can I talk to you for a sec?”

Without waiting for an answer, Will turned around and walked away. The taller boy shot Lucas and Dustin a nervous look before following the other teen.

“So,” the bard cleared his throat once they were alone, “you and Mike, huh?”

“What?” The black teen furrowed his eyebrows and shot his friend a quizzical look.

“I just wish you guys had told us,” the curly-haired teen mumbled. “It’s not like any of us is gonna judge you for it.”

_ Well, you might think differently if you know how I feel. _ “Dustin,” he sighed, “Mike and I are not together.”

“See, that sounded a little more believable,” the other boy said sarcastically. “Did you practice saying that a lot?”

“Dustin, I swear,” Lucas said exasperatedly. “We’re not dating.”

“So… what? You guys just skipped the last five hangouts to… look for stuff?

The ranger bit his lips before briefly shooting a glance towards where Mike and Will had disappeared to. “If I tell you this, will you promise to keep it from Will?”

Dustin raised an eyebrow and stared at him for several seconds. “Depends. If you two are in a relationship, I’m not hiding it from Will.”

“We’re n— Just— Ugh,” the black teen let out a groan before lowering his voice. “We have been trying to look for the perfect birthday present for Will.”

It was intriguing, to say the least, seeing the shorter teen’s eyes widen and a school of emotions swam across his face. There was surprise, for sure, with a hint of guilt, and either hunger or happiness, he couldn’t exactly tell. “You have?”

“Yeah,” Lucas whispered. “So whatever you do, don’t tell him.”

“But what if I really have to tell him?” The blue-eyed boy frowned.

“You really don’t.”

“What if  _ that _ happens?” The bard asked as his eyes darted behind Lucas, where an upset Will was angry walking towards them, with their dungeon master approaching at a slower pace behind.

“Let’s go, Dustin,” the shorter boy grabbed his boyfriend’s hand. “Nice to see you, Lucas.”

The curly-haired teen shot him the ‘this is what I’m talking about’ look before letting his boyfriend drag him away.

“How bad is it?” The ranger asked when his friend finally got back.

“Bad,” Mike scrunched his nose. “I think he’s mad at me.”

“You think?” Lucas asked before reminding himself that his attitude wasn’t helping. “What are you gonna do about it, then?”

The taller boy let out a dejected sigh. “I don’t know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think? Like it? Hate it? Want to have more of someone's perspective? Think I did someone dirty? Let me know all in the comments.
> 
> Can't promise you an update next weekend, but I'll try to have one sometime next month.
> 
> What do you think will happen next? Reading your speculations is always nice, so don't hold yourself back.
> 
> Until next time.


	5. Birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday, Will Byers!
> 
> Hi everyone, and welcome back to this next chapter of Love, Will. I definitely didn't plan this _that_ much in advance, but Will's birthday also happened to be next, so I thought, why not?
> 
> Anyway, enjoy!

“How long are we gonna punish them?” Dustin suddenly asked in the middle of their homework session.

His boyfriend’s eyes flickered towards him for a brief moment before returning to his own notebook. “I don’t— We’re no— I just think we should give them that ‘private quality time’ they obviously want.”

He and Will were once again in the shorter teen’s bedroom alone. They didn’t ask the rest of their friends to join them anymore, because Jane and Max hadn’t been with them since the little outburst about a month ago, while  _ ‘Lucas and Mike’ _ was a sensitive topic at the moment.

These last couple of days had been stressful for the whole party. Unlike when it had been awkward, this time even Max and Jane wouldn’t say anything, since an angry Will was probably the scariest thing any of them had ever seen, and considering everything they’d gone through, that was saying something. Unfortunately, the curly-haired teen couldn’t think of a way to resolve this without breaking his promise, and for some reason, neither Lucas nor Mike thought that would be a better alternative.

“You know, maybe they were actually at the mall to look for something,” the bard tried. The ranger hadn’t said anything about not pointing the cleric in the right direction.

Will let out a sigh. “It’s not— I’m not upset about that,” the shorter teen mumbled. “Do you think there really isn’t anything between them?”

It was clear that there was a correct answer if he hoped to subside this situation. It was also clear that the correct answer was a lie.

“Does it matter if there is?” Dustin asked tentatively. “Knowing them, they’re still not gonna do anything if—”

“Dustin, if your plan was to not make me mad, then you really should stop talking now,” Will sent him a glare.

“Fine,” the blue-eyed boy murmured. “Then I’m not sure why you’re upset.”

“I don’t know,” his boyfriend sighed and put away his homework. “It’s just that, we tell each other everything, so it kind of hurt that he doesn’t trust me enough to tell me about it.”

The taller teen was well aware that they weren’t talking about _Mike_ _and_ _Lucas_ anymore, which, considering how the cleric was always the closest to their paladin, was completely understandable. The curly-haired boy put away his homework as well before scooting closer to his boyfriend. “Did you tell him about your feelings?” He asked slowly.

“Well, no,” Will said sheepishly, “but it’s not like I could tell him how I feel about him.”

“Okay, fair,” the blue-eyed teen hummed and pulled the cleric onto his lap. “Did you tell him about your feelings for me, then?”

“No,” the shorter boy grumbled, “but that’s not the same either. I would still be talking to the boy I like about a boy I like.”

“Maybe they are the same,” Dustin suggested. “You know, I  _ have _ been telling you that—”

“And I’ve been telling you you’re wrong,” the cleric interrupted. “They have feelings for each other.”

“Can’t they have feelings for you as well?” The curly-haired teen asked. “After all, you like more than just me, right?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Will sighed. “They don’t even trust us enough to let us know they’re in a relationship.”

“What if they’re not, though?” Since he now knew why the two boys had made those excuses, Dustin liked to think that it had made him see things a little clearer than before. “Don’t get me wrong, I totally agree that there’s something there. But what if they haven’t made it official yet?”

Will turned around and frowned. “I don’t think that’s the case,” the shorter teen shrugged. “Mike and Lucas took less than a week to get together with Jane and Max.”

_ And yet they never dared to make a move on you. Funny how things work sometimes.  _ “Just entertain that thought for a bit, will you?” The blue-eyed boy gave the cleric a soft smile. “You know Mike and Lucas. They wouldn’t do anything to hurt you like that.”

His boyfriend had completely turned around and was now straddling his lap, looking at him with those beautiful hazel eyes that would’ve made him fall in love a thousand times. “Shit,” Will let out a humorless chuckle, “I’m being an asshole, aren’t I?”

“I wouldn’t call you that,” Dustin grinned, “but you  _ are _ being a bit hard on them.”

“Sorry,” the shorter teen mumbled. “I know I shouldn’t have acted like this. Just that, I know they’re hiding something from me, and I— I don’t know, I guess I—”

“Hey,” the bard interrupted, “you don’t have to explain anything to me. I totally understand. Still think you should talk to them, though. Especially Mike.” He probably would’ve felt the same as well if Lucas hadn’t come clean about everything. The curly-haired teen had definitely prepared some choice words about how they hadn’t been as close as he’d thought, but fortunately, he’d never had to use them.

That didn’t mean nothing would ever happen between those two, though. They just really needed to get their shit together before approaching Will, and Dustin would bet anything that those two still had feelings for his boyfriend. Maybe then, they could help him talk some sense—

Suddenly, Will’s lips were on his, and, well,  _ what was I thinking about again? _ Having the cutest boy in the world on his lap, kissing him like this was slightly distracting.

“How can you be so perfect?” He heard the shorter teen mumble against his lips. “I must be the luckiest person in the world to have such a boyfriend.”

Later, when his brain was working again, he’d come up with a million reasons why he wasn’t perfect. He’d come up with a long list of why Will would be better with certain people. He’d even come up with a ten-slide presentation if that’d make his boyfriend understand.

Right now, Dustin just hoped the cleric couldn’t feel the bulge he was sitting on.

 

* * *

 

Mike was in deep shit.

Technically, so was Lucas, but the other teen hadn’t been the one who’d gotten yelled at by Will at the mall a couple of days ago. Although, the monosyllabic responses Will had been using had been for both of them, so it wasn’t like the ranger was off the hook either.

“At least this way we know he hasn’t found out about it yet,” Lucas said tentatively.

“Well, in  _ that _ case, I feel so much better,” the paladin scoffed.

Once again, they were hanging out in Lucas’ room, since Erica had reached that teenager phase where she wouldn’t leave her room unless it was a matter of life and death, while Holly would’ve barged into Mike’s and  _ nicely persuaded _ them to play with her. Of course, he enjoyed playing with his baby sister, but not during a crisis, so the Sinclairs’ had been his after school destination ever since the incident at the mall.

“Look,” his friend sighed, “I know he’s more mad at you, but he’s mad at me, too. There’s nothing we can do about it, though, unless you wanna tell him why we were there.” The other teen paused for a bit before frowning. “Do you want to tell him?”

“No,” Mike groaned. “I don’t know? I’m not gonna ruin the surprise, but I don’t want him to be mad anymore.”

On the bright side, they didn’t have to make excuses not to hang out with Dustin and Will anymore, so if they changed their minds about the presents, that would be simpler. However, they  _ had _ gotten the cleric something already, so they didn’t need that bright side in the first place. He only called that ‘the bright side’ because he was nitpicking this whole situation while trying not to break and tell his best friend everything.

“You know, Dustin’s not mad at us,” Lucas offered. “That’s gotta count, right?”

“Yeah, right,” Mike snorted. “I had to endure Will’s wrath, and you broke the moment Dustin looked sad.”

“Hey,” the ranger huffed, “don’t even try to convince me you would’ve been able to fight it when his pout got you to sit outside Will’s house when it was freezing.”

“That was different,” the dungeon master grabbed a pillow and threw it at his friend. “I didn’t risk exposing anything when I did that.” His face might be heating up a bit, but there was no way he would admit to anything, even if that meant ignoring the other teen’s implication that their feelings towards a certain bard were similar.

Almost immediately, Lucas whacked him with the pillow he’d just thrown, prompting the paladin to grab another pillow to defend himself. “I didn’t risk anything either,” the black teen rolled his eyes. “If Dustin could pull off being the secret admirer, I think he could keep that.”

“Need I remind you that you and Will were the only two who didn’t know?” Mike moved to hit back, but the other boy had jumped off the bed to dodge.  _ If that’s how you wanna play. _ “I don’t think he’ll just blurt that out, but he could still accidentally expose us somehow. Stop running away!”

“I’m not running away. I’m gracefully evading your attacks,” Lucas grinned. “Stop moving like an angry old grandma.”

The paladin narrowed his eyes and threw the pillow at the other teen’s face to block the guy’s vision before lunging at his friend, trying to pin the ranger down. That worked miraculously for about two seconds before Lucas started fighting back. The ranger definitely had the upper hand when it came to strength, but luckily, being lanky had its perks with how pretty much any bone in his body could make the other boy jump when he jabbed it at the guy. He had no idea how long their wrestling match lasted, but they must’ve switched position no less than a dozen times. By the time Mike came out victorious, they were both panting heavily. Mike’s clothes and hair definitely looked disheveled, but that couldn’t possibly compare to the state Lucas’ room was in right now.

“How does it feel like being beaten by an angry old grandma?” The dungeon master asked with a grin.

“You’re sitting on my chest,” the other boy complained. “That’s hardly fair.”

“Can’t be unfair if there are no rules,” Mike grinned. He definitely wouldn’t have to be in this position if earlier, the ranger hadn’t tried to turn the table around by simply sitting up — and succeeded as well.

“Of course there are rules,” Lucas huffed. “You must’ve violated ten different ones already, so this doesn’t count.”

“You can say whatever you want,  _ Lukey, _ but that won’t change the fact that I just beat your ass,” the raven-haired teen said the last part in a singsong voice. “Not so easily pinned down now, am I?”

“Whatever,” the ranger rolled his eyes. “It’s not like anyone was around to witness this anyway.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter, because—”

“Lucas! I need your h—”

Half a second of Dustin’s voice was all the warning Mike had gotten before he was violently kicked off the bed by his friend. On the bright side, everything on Lucas’ bed other than the mattress was already on the floor, so it hadn’t been a particularly rough landing. It still hurt nonetheless, and the paladin let out a loud groan.

“S-Sorry,” he heard the bard’s voice, “your mom let me in. I’ll come back later. Maybe.”

It hadn’t occurred to Mike until just now, how it must’ve looked like if someone saw him and Lucas earlier. However, the ranger had definitely made things look even worse with that reaction.

“Don’t,” his friend hastily responded. “We were just wrestling.”

“And that was definitely against the rules,” Mike complained as he finally got up.

“What happened to ‘there are no rules’?” Lucas raised an eyebrow.

“You threw that out when you kicked me off the bed,” the dungeon master scoffed. “Anyway, Dustin?”

The blue-eyed teen looked like he’d momentarily forgotten why he’d been here in the first place. However, that moment briefly passed as his cheeks started darkening. “I— I don’t— Just that, it’s stupid, and I don’t know if I should— I mean, I probably shouldn’t—”

“Do you want me to leave?” The raven-haired teen offered. After all, his friend had only expected to see Lucas. It was probably better for him to just—

“Actually, can you stay?” Dustin said sheepishly. “You kinda know Will better than either of us, so…”

“Is there something wrong?” Lucas frowned and patted his bed, wordlessly telling their friend to sit down. Mike took a seat on the floor before turning his attention towards the curly-haired boy.

“Nothing’s wrong,” the shorter boy shook his head. “Well, I think nothing’s wrong, anyway.”

“You know, it’s easier to help you if we know what the problem is,” the ranger raised an eyebrow.

“How do you know if it’s the right time to take things to the next level?” The bard blurted out.

Mike wasn’t proud to say it had taken him two whole seconds before his brain processed the question and his eyes widened. “With Will?”

“No, with Andre in Calc,” Dustin huffed. “Of course it’s with Will.”

“You mean, you haven’t…?” Lucas’ voice was also laced with disbelief.

“I wanna make sure everything is perfect,” the bard confessed, “but the more I wait, the more I feel like it’ll have to be bigger.”

“Be glad you’re not like Lucas, then, because he’d probably feel like he needed to take Will to Paris if he were in your shoes,” Mike snorted and quickly caught the pillow his friend threw at him.

“Why now?” The ranger frowned. “You guys have been dating for two months, and you’re coming to me today?”

The curly-haired teen darted his eyes towards the paladin and back to the other boy. “Are you sure you wanna know?”

_ No, _ Mike thought. He wasn’t sure at all. He had already felt all kinds of weird watching two of his best friends being lovey-dovey together, and other than the jealousy, the rest wasn’t the bad kind of weird — which, from that sentence alone, should’ve been even worse than the bad kind. He definitely didn’t need more fuel for his imagination, not that he’d admit to anything. However, this wasn’t about him. It was about helping his friend be happy, and he definitely wanted two of his favorite boys to be happy together. That would still be a thousand times better than either Lucas or Dustin being with that Andy kid, but he shouldn’t think about that either since this topic always left him unreasonably angry.

“Don’t worry, we’re totally fine with you and Will dating,” Mike let out a chuckle. At least that part was true, so he didn’t have to lie. He only had a problem with him wanting to be in that relationship as well, and maybe adding Lucas to the mix, too.  _ Fuck Nancy for putting that idea in my head. _

“Plus, you came to me to ask for advice,” Lucas reminded the blue-eyed teen. “Did you expect me to just not ask you anything?”

“Okay, fine,” Dustin sighed. “I was in his room earlier and we were talking, and suddenly we were kissing.”

“I’m sorry, but  _ suddenly _ you were kissing?” Mike raised an eyebrow.

“Let’s come back to that  _ later, _ Mike,” the ranger rolled his eyes. “Go on.”

“We were kissing,” the bard continued like he hadn’t been interrupted, “and he was on my lap, and suddenly he was on his back and I was hovering above him.”

The dungeon master didn’t know if he preferred the way Dustin was omitting things right now. On the one hand, logically it was the right thing to do, and since the blue-eyed boy knew about both his and Lucas’ feelings for Will, that was also the kind thing to do. On the other hand, fewer details left more room for imagination. Although, that was definitely not Dustin’s fault. He needed to rein in his thoughts.

“And then Hopper appeared and kicked me out because apparently, I broke the three-inch rule,” the curly-haired teen rolled his eyes. “He probably would’ve kicked me out even if the door had been wide open anyway, so I have no idea why he was making excuses.”

For several seconds, nobody said anything as Lucas and Mike let the silence help them process the situation. Then the ranger cleared his throat. “So, if Hopper hadn’t shown up—”

“I don’t know, okay?” Dustin groaned and fell back on the bed. “I wasn’t thinking, but then I started thinking and freaked out. What if it wasn’t the right moment? What if Will didn’t really want to do anything more than just kissing, and I—”

“I’m gonna have to stop you right there,” Mike interrupted before the other teen’s thought could spiral.  _ Maybe it already did, but I still need to stop it. _ “Can’t you see how happy he is whenever he’s with you? Dude, he’s practically glowing when he told us what you did on Valentine’s.”

“Okay, but it doesn’t—”

“It does, though,” Lucas interrupted. “I can’t believe you don’t see how much he wants to be with you.”

“But I’m ju—”

“You’re  _ ‘just you’ _ ?” The paladin scoffed. “Christ’s sake! Why is that both of you guys’ go-to argument?”

“Dustin,” the ranger rolled his eyes, “he loves you  _ because _ you’re you. You’re smart, funny, and loyal. You’ve been by his side every time the world is about to end, and you put him first. Why would  _ anyone _ not want to be with someone like that?”

Mike could tell that his friend was blushing from the compliment, but that still hadn’t stopped whatever kind of thoughts that had been forming underneath those pretty curls. “Are we talking about me or you guys?” The bard asked. “Because both of you have those qualities, too, you know?”

“Yeah, but you’re the only one who never stopped putting him first,” the dungeon master shook his head. “None of us are perfect, but if you ask me who’s perfect for Will, I’m gonna introduce you to a fucking mirror.”

“Even though you know him the best?”

“How about,  _ because _ I know him the best, I’ll know what I’m talking about?” Mike raised an eyebrow. “Dude, seriously, if you wanna make him happy, then this kind of thinking really needs to stop.”

“As for the right moment,” Lucas chimed in, “I say pick a day you know you’re gonna be alone, but other than that, just feel the atmosphere. I’m sure whatever you were doing was good enough if he was  _ suddenly _ on his back,” the boy smirked.

“Okay, shut it, asshole,” Dustin grumbled. “I don’t need your attitude right now.”

“The point is,” the paladin cleared his throat, “he was more than okay with you giving him hickeys before. He’s probably not looking forward to a step-down.”

The bard was quiet for about half a minute before letting out a groan. “Why am I talking to you guys about this? You both have crushes on my boyfriend.”

“I have absolutely no idea,” Mike snorted. “You’re gonna have to take that to someone else. But since you already got kicked out by Hopper, wanna hang out here?” The boy grinned. “I’ll get the games from the living room.”

“No, wait, I’ll get them,” Dustin immediately shot up and headed towards the door. “I need to walk around a bit, anyway.”

As the paladin watched his friend disappear from view, he suddenly realized that it had been a while since he’d last witnessed a Dustin freak-out. The bard loved to overthink, so the whole party used to see that a lot. However, the closer his friend became with Steve, the less he got to be the confidant, so he kinda forgot how the blue-eyed teen could be—

“Kinda cute, isn’t he?” Lucas chuckled, and Mike almost had a heart attack, hearing his thoughts being vocalized.

“What?”

“You’re really easy to read,” the ranger grinned. “It’s okay. I think he’s cute, too.”

“He’s probably gonna kill you if he hears that,” the raven-haired teen warned halfheartedly.

“Either that or blush to death,” the black teen snorted. “He might have to flip a coin to decide, though.”

The paladin hummed in agreement. He’d already enjoyed the bard being riled up way before this, but recently he’d learned that the blushing mop of hair was adorable as well. It was also a bit easier to make Dustin blush than before, so they’d also been doing that a bit more often. 

“So,” Mike cleared his throat, “you like him, too?”

 

* * *

 

This was definitely the most crowded Will’s house had ever been when the world wasn’t ending, not that he’d expected anything less at his birthday party either.

Technically, his birthday had already passed, but since Jonathan and Nancy wouldn’t be able to join them on Friday, waiting an extra day wasn’t  _ that _ big a deal. Plus, Dustin had taken him out the previous night to celebrate as well, so in a way, he got to celebrate it twice: once with his boyfriend, and once with his family and friends — including his boyfriend.

Having a birthday party at home was weird to him for a lot of different reasons. First, Jonathan had never had one of these. It had always been a quick hug from his mom and a special dish for dinner — with Nancy as well after they became a thing. Second, this was practically a supervised party with no alcohol, and half of them were legal adults. Last but not least, one of the chaperones was his mom, and the other was the Chief of Police. Things couldn’t possibly be weirder than that.

Grabbing a cup of soda from the kitchen, the birthday boy returned to the living room and took in the scene. He’d probably draw this tomorrow morning or something. His boyfriend was currently talking to Steve, with Nancy and Jonathan hovering nearby. The three adults looked slightly frustrated, even though Steve was the only one participating in that conversation. His mom and Jim were standing by the door, whispering to each other. From their look, he’d say they were about to sneak out and sneak a smoke, despite having promised Jane they’d quit. The telekinetic girl was watching her girlfriend’s annoyed expression as the redhead talked to her ex-boyfriend, but there was no way she wouldn’t know if the two adults decided to try something funny. He’d love to see how that panned out.

_ Wait. Where’s—? _

Once again, Mike’s sudden appearance by his side startled Will enough that he almost spilled his drink. Logically he knew this didn’t happen that often, but somehow it felt like every time he thought of the raven-haired teen, the guy just miraculously appeared next to him.

“Sorry,” the taller teen chuckled. “Should’ve let you know I’m here.”

“Don’t be,” Will shook his head. “I probably should’ve gotten used to it by now.” He scanned the room again, but everyone else was still too absorbed in their own conversation, and Mike was the only one with no one to talk to — although maybe that was on purpose. “I’m sorry. I was a total dick.”

“You already apologized for that two weeks ago,” Mike reminded him.

“Well, back then I was apologizing for being unreasonable and unfair,” the cleric shrugged. “Now I’m apologizing for my assumption.” The two had just explained to him earlier that the reason they’d been making excuses to not hang out was so they could find him birthday presents. The pins and the new photo album the two had gotten him had been beautiful as well, and he had no doubt he’d be using them a lot. After all, he’d almost run out of pages in the album Dustin had given him.

Apparently, Dustin had known why Lucas and Mike had ditched them, which had prompted his boyfriend to try and defuse the situation. In a way, that had worked, since he’d apologized shortly after his talk with the bard, and although it would’ve been a lie to say things had gotten back to normal, he’d tried his best not to be weird about it. Dustin had also pointed out that the two would never dare to come clean if that was how he’d react, and as always, his boyfriend had a point.

“You don’t have to apologize for that,” the paladin shook his head. “I would’ve made assumptions as well if somehow you kept making excuses to not hang out. I’m just glad you forgave us.”

“You guys should’ve been the ones I needed to ask for forgiveness,” the cleric sighed. “You were buying me presents, and I was—”

“You know,” the raven-haired boy interrupted, “this conversation is getting nowhere. Can we both agree that nobody needs to apologize again?”

Will snorted but nodded nonetheless. That probably would save both of them some time. “So,” he cleared his throat, “we’re getting our acceptance letters anytime now.” He hated to think about the day when they each inevitably had to go their own way, but it was coming whether he liked it or not, and ignoring it now seemed like a stupid idea. “Have you thought about it? Where you’re gonna be?”

“Yeah,” the taller teen nodded. “I talked to Lucas, and he wanted to go to Harvard. I did apply to Boston University, so if we both got in, we’d be pretty close to each other.”

The hazel-eyed teen didn’t know what he’d expected, but hearing Mike’s answer, it was all he could do not to let that pang in his chest show. “Oh,” he managed to say with a smile, “you two, together, huh? I hope that happens.”

“Actually, I kinda hope all of us could be in the same state,” the dungeon master said sheepishly. “I know Dustin applied to MIT, so did you apply to any school in the area?”

If a moment ago he’d tried not to look hurt, then right now it was even more difficult to stop himself from blushing.  _ Mike wants all of us to be together. _ He knew it wasn’t the kind of ‘together’ he wanted, but he’d take whatever he could. “I— I don’t know,” the teen mumbled. “ There’s Tufts, but I don’t think I’ll get in.”

“Trust me, Will,” the paladin said with more confidence than Will could ever have in his life, “you’re amazing, and they’re blind if they don’t see it. And if we all can find a place together, it’s gonna be even more wonderful.”

“Whatcha talking about?” Dustin approached the two of them with a grin.

“Tufts,” Mike replied. “I’m telling Will how he’s definitely gonna get in.”

“Hell, yeah!” The curly-haired teen exclaimed. “You’re amazing, Will, and for some weird reason, you’re the only one unable to see it.”

“Excuse you guys,” the cleric huffed, “but your opinions don’t count. You’re my boyfriend and my best friend. You guys can’t say a single bad thing about me.”

“Would it help if I dragged everyone else here for you to ask?” Mike raised an eyebrow.

“Let’s see,” Will hummed and started counting with his fingers. “My mom, my future stepdad, my brother, dating my brother, dating my brother, my best friend, my stepsister, and my other best friend who’s dating my stepsister. No, it wouldn’t help at all.”

“You’re just stubborn,” Dustin rolled his eyes. “You’re literally the most talented person Hawkins has ever seen, and everyone else knows it.”

Not believing in what these two were saying didn’t help Will at all with not blushing at his friends’ compliments. They — and Lucas, too, for that matter — always seemed to think of him as some kind of child genius or something with everything they always said. Also, it wasn’t like he could say anything about it, because their town didn’t have anyone  _ too _ good either.

“Anyway,” Mike cleared his throat, “I’m going to the kitchen. You guys want anything?”

Both Will and Dustin shook their heads, so the dungeon master left them alone as he walked away.

“Why Tufts, by the way?” His boyfriend asked. “Don’t get me wrong, you’re definitely good enough to get ac—”

“Okay, you can stop that now,” the shorter teen interrupted. “Mike said he’s hoping to get into BU, and Lucas is aiming for Harvard,” he shrugged. “He thought it’d be cool if we ended up in the same state.”

“Oh,” Dustin blinked, and there was something in his boyfriend’s eyes that he couldn’t identify, but it made him feel slightly uneasy. “See, I told you,” the boy grinned, “they—”

“Can we not do this on my birthday?” Will made a face. “I’m not gonna dump you for them.”

“I’m not telling you to do anything,” the bard said softly. “But Mike and Lucas are both smart and funny and sweet, and they’ve been your friends for even longer than me.”

“Just so you know, Mike also said he knew you picked MIT, so  _ all of us _ would be together,” the cleric huffed. “He obviously cares about you just as much.”

“Wait, he did?” Dustin’s eyes widened, and in those irises that Will always loved, there was shocked along with something that—

_ Wait… _

_ Oh! _

Suddenly, everything made more sense to Will — everything his boyfriend had said and everything the boy hadn’t said.

“Dustin,” he bit his lips, “do you want to date them, too?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think? Like it? Hate it (I know I do)? Think I was a bit OOC? Let me know in the comments.
> 
> This fic definitely has more time skips than my usual ones, so it's feeling a bit rushed to me, but back then most of my school days were pretty much the same, so without any major events, it's gonna be pretty repetitive to just write the same thing over and over.
> 
> Anyway, until next time.


	6. I Bet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, look! Another chapter! About time...
> 
> Welcome back to the next chapter of Love, Will. How have you been in this apocalypse? I've been extremely productive during the last two days, so now you guys get a treat.
> 
> Enjoy!

Will would’ve liked to believe that things were different now that he knew everything.

Technically, Dustin hadn’t confirmed anything yet, but that expression like he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar might as well have been an enthusiastic nod, and he knew the bard knew it. They still hadn’t talked about it, though, and it was only partly his fault. After his realization, Mike had immediately returned to them, so they hadn’t been able to talk about it right then. Plus, Will had still needed time to process what he’d learned, and that had taken the whole weekend since he’d hardly been left alone — what with it being his birthday and all. He’d hoped to have that conversation with the curly-haired teen about it on Monday, but Dustin had done an exceptional job at not giving them a moment alone without raising suspicion from the other four members of the Party, and Will had enough sense to know that there was no way he’d ever do this in any way other than face-to-face.

So here he was, on Tuesday afternoon, sitting on the edge of his boyfriend’s bed, while the bard was in his Mythology club meeting at school. He would’ve waited for Dustin there, but Mike and Lucas would’ve offered to wait with him, and that was one of the scenarios he was trying to avoid. Breaking and entering might not be the most ideal option, but at least Mrs. Henderson wasn’t around to hear all the noise he’d made. If his boyfriend had gone through the same trouble, he wondered how on earth he’d managed to relatively stay asleep all those nights.

There was the sound of the front door being unlocked, and Will let out a relieved sigh when Dustin started calling for Tews. It would’ve been awkward if Mrs. Henderson had come home first and been there during this conversation. It would be awkward to talk to any parent about this, but he’d burn that bridge when—  _ if _ he got there. After all, even if things worked out with the other two, and that was a pretty big if, this was the sort of thing he probably should follow his big brother’s lead, and as far as he could tell, Jonathan never told anyone about it.

The footsteps were getting closer, and the cleric looked up just in time to see the surprised expression with a sliver of panic his boyfriend was wearing. On the bright side, it still looked better than the mixture of sadness, guilt, and relief the bard had worn earlier when hearing that they wouldn’t be going home together. “W-Will? Wha—”

“Give yourself a little more credit,” the shorter teen shook his head. “I know you know why I’m here.”

Fortunately for him, the curly-haired teen decided against playing dumb. He watched as his boyfriend let out a dejected sigh before approaching the bed and sitting down. “You really don’t have to do this,” the taller boy mumbled.

“Communication is the most important thing in a relationship,” Will hummed and nudged Dustin, who was suddenly very interested in his own lap.

“What about love? Or trust? Or mutual understa—”

“You can’t have them without communication,” the cleric interrupted. “And you’re trying to change the subject.”

The bard let out a resigned sigh but still refused to look up. “What do you want me to say?”

This was completely new to Will. He’d never been the one trying to make someone else open up before. On his best days, he would be the one in the background patiently waiting while someone else did it for him, but usually, he’d be the one his friends try to coax into opening up. “I want to hear you say it,” he said softly and reached for his boyfriend’s hand, only for the other teen to pull away.

“What’s the point?” Dustin huffed. “It’s not gonna magically go away by doing that.”

“I think you know that’s not what I’m trying to do,” the cleric tried again. It was very likely that the curly-haired teen hadn’t even admitted this to himself, and if that was the case, then Will of all people knew how scary that was. “Dusty, please…”

For the first time since entering the room, the taller boy looked up, and Will could see the walls the blue-eyed teen had built to keep his feelings away slowly crumble. “Fine,” his boyfriend said weakly, “I— I also have a crush on Mike and Lucas.”

It didn’t take a second before Will was sitting on the bard’s lap, wrapping his arms around his boyfriend. “I have feelings for Mike and Lucas, too,” he admitted. It wasn’t exactly news to either of them, but he still felt like he had to say it. Dustin’s arms were already around him like it was on instinct — and a part of him suspected that it was. The blue-eyed teen’s body language screamed  _ ‘majorly freaking out’ _ and he’d do anything he could to stop that. Perhaps reminding the bard he wasn’t alone was the right thing to do. “I love you, but I also have feelings for them.”

Dustin nodded and gulped before opening his mouth again, undoubtedly trying to think of how to reply, but not being able to due to his brain switching to overthinking mode. This wasn’t the first time he’d witnessed this, but Will also wouldn’t call himself an expert in calming the curly-haired boy down. Most of the time, he just followed his instincts and hoped everything would work out in the end. This time was no different as his fingers started drawing what he hoped to be soothing circles on the taller teen’s neck. Dustin had done something similar for him in the beginning as well. “Do you remember when we got together?” He asked softly. “I told you that I don’t have feelings for just you. Do you remember what you said to me?”

His boyfriend was looking at him with uncertainty in those beautiful blue eyes, so Will tried his best to encourage the bard without using words. “I—” Dustin cleared his throat and nodded but didn’t elaborate, so Will nudged the curly-haired teen slightly to urge him to continue. “ _ ‘You’re okay,’ _ ” the guy finally said, “and  _ ‘we’ll figure this out.’ _ ”

“Yeah,” Will nodded and started running his fingers through the taller boy’s hair. “So  _ you _ are okay, too. We’ll figure  _ this _ out.”

Dustin let out a dejected sigh. “But there’s nothing to figure out. They’re not interested in me. All I can do is wait for it to go away.”

“You don’t know that,” the cleric protested. “You’re convinced that they have feelings for me, even though it’s obvious they like each other. Why is it impossible that they might have feelings for you too?”

The bard didn’t look like he believed what his boyfriend was saying, but the boy didn’t protest either, and the shorter teen counted that as a win in his book. Although Will couldn’t be completely certain about his two best friends’ feelings for Dustin, the hazel-eyed teen still had a hunch that was the case. After all, those two  _ had _ admitted that they loved to rile the curly-haired teen up because the boy looked adorable.

“You know,” the taller teen said quietly, “it might not be impossible, but it’s really unlikely.”

“Well, you’re strong, smart, cute, funny, extremely caring, and super loyal,” Will said, giving his boyfriend a soft smile. “I bet someone else saw that as well. I can’t be the only one who’s ever had a crush on you in Hawkins.”

If he hadn’t been looking into his boyfriend’s eyes, he might’ve missed it. However, the taller teen’s expression slightly shifted, and Will had a feeling he’d just reminded his boyfriend of something. “What?” He asked, smiling. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

“Remember when I said Lucas was the first boy I realized I had a crush on?” The curly-haired teen asked sheepishly. “Shortly after that, he told me he used to have a crush on me as well.”

From the way Dustin’s cheeks were heating up, he had a feeling there was more to this story. However, he wasn’t the type that had to know every tiny secret about his boyfriend, so he didn’t press on. “See? Lucas also saw what I see,” he grinned. “What if he still sees it, or what if Mike also sees it?”

“C’mon, Will, they don’t,” the bard tried to protest, but from how red the teen looked, he knew he already succeeded in putting that image in his mind.

“I bet they see it too,” the cleric said and began to plant soft kisses everywhere on Dustin’s face other than the guy’s lips, which apparently helped keep those images around from the way the boy’s pupils dilated. “I bet they also see how wonderful my boyfriend is and how cute he looks when he’s all flustered. I bet they love how smart he is and how romantic he gets.”

Somewhere along that road, it had stopped being just about teasing Dustin and started becoming what he secretly wished for as well. Or maybe, it had always been a bit of both. Either way, if he kept this up a bit longer, he’d probably have to get off his boyfriend lest he be in a  _ slightly _ awkward situation. Therefore, being the sensible person he was, Will slowly pulled away, giving them both a minute to cool off.

“Has anyone ever told you you could be a dangerous villain if you wanted to?” The curly-haired teen eventually said after they’d gone back to sitting next to each other. “Breaking into people’s rooms, making them have conversations they’ve been trying to avoid all weekend, and turning their minds into hot messes. You really are something.”

“You literally did all of them to me,” Will countered. “Breaking into my room, making me come out, and turning me into a mess every single morning for a whole month. Are you saying you’re a dangerous villain?”

“I didn’t make you come out,” Dustin snorted. “You came out because you, being the wonderful person you are, started to worry you wouldn’t be able to reciprocate my feelings if I were a girl.”

“Still,” the cleric huffed, “if you hadn’t started the whole secret admirer thing, I would’ve never come out, and you guys would’ve never found out.”

“I think we all kinda had a feeling you weren’t interested in girls,” the bard rolled his eyes. “Nothing would’ve changed our behavior towards you anyway. But are you saying it would’ve been better if I hadn’t started the whole admirer thing?”

Will pretended to think for a moment before quickly planting a kiss on Dustin’s cheek. “Never,” he said with a grin. Not only had he been able to share one of the biggest parts of him with his friends, but he’d also learned that he wasn’t alone after all. Not to mention, he was now dating Dustin. There was no way anyone could make him regret it. “C’mon,” he hopped off the bed and pulled the bard with him, “we have homework.”

 

* * *

 

“Did you guys interfere?” Lucas asked after their drinks arrived.

“Are you gonna assume we interfered every single time something changes now?” Max raised an eyebrow.

Today was one of the days El was busy with something — in this case, she was being tutored by Mike — so the redhead decided to call her ex-boyfriend up to hang out instead. The ranger didn’t mind too much, especially since he’d wanted to ask the girl something as well.

“Pretty much,” the boy shrugged. Once upon a time, he wouldn’t have jumped to this conclusion this fast, but recent events had shone a new light on his ex for him. “I mean, you released Nancy, Jonathan, and Steve on them…”

“How else do you suggest we make them entertain the idea of polygamy?” The girl raised her eyebrows. “I already tried telling  _ you _ to talk to them, but you refused, and in case you haven’t realized, we as a group aren’t that popular around here.”

Now that she mentioned it, it did seem like the perfect way to mention something as  _ unconventional _ as this, especially since he would never find the courage to start that conversation. “How did you even know about them?” Lucas mumbled. “I mean, before they gave Mike, Will, and Dustin permission to tell us, they’d never told anyone.”

Max gave him a cheeky smirk. “Jane is a lot more observant than you think,” the redhead said. “She noticed the way Nancy and Jonathan’s behavior changed when Steve was around.”

Lucas frowned at the explanation. It was true that Jane usually paid attention to tiny details, but he didn’t think the girl had spent enough time around either of the older siblings to notice something out of the ordinary.

“Plus,” Max finally relented, “we saw them together last summer before we started dating, but don’t tell them that.”

Now everything made more sense. The three wouldn’t want to draw too much attention to their situation, so it would make sense for them to go somewhere less crowded, and since Jane had been taught not to draw attention to herself or her powers, she was hardwired to prefer less crowded places. “Well, did you?” He continued. “Interfere?”

“No,” the redhead finally said with a shrug. “We were gonna ask if you knew why Dustin was trying to avoid being alone with Will, but apparently, they fixed whatever it was.”

Lucas had no idea what had happened at Will’s birthday party last weekend but on Monday, Dustin had been extra cheerful and wanted to include everyone in everything, and Will hadn’t been too thrilled about it. Things hadn’t gotten better on Tuesday either, with Will going as far as to leave the school early when they usually would’ve waited for the bard together in the AV room.

“Yeah,” the ranger rolled his eyes. “And now Will just sends Dustin looks every now and then.”

They’d relatively gone back to normal in the last two days, but every once in a while, he’d spot the two having a nonverbal conversation which usually ended in their curly-haired friend blushing a little.

“Not exactly ‘every now and then,’ but I’ll let you work that out yourself,” Max smirked and sent him a look. “By the way, how’s your progress with Mike?”

Lucas could feel his face heating up at the question. After the last time that Dustin freaked out, he and Mike had both admitted to having feelings for the bard. Since then, they’d been hanging out either in his or Mike’s room alone a bit more often, and the topic about their crushes on Will might’ve been brought up. Also maybe once or twice — or three times counting yesterday — they might’ve had something similar to a conversation about their feelings for each other as well.  _ ‘Similar to a conversation’ _ because at least their mouths were put to work.

“It’s going fine,” Lucas responded, trying to be nonchalant. “I don’t know what else to tell you.” In his opinion, he’d aced it.

“I bet,” Max cocked an eyebrow. “You don’t have to tell me anything,” she shrugged and raised her hand to touch a spot on his neck, “but you might wanna tell him to be careful about leaving hickeys like this.”

He took it back. Whatever nonchalant was supposed to look like, he was certain he was the furthest from it. “What?” The ranger asked rather loudly and incredulously. “Hickeys? I didn’t see any hickey this morning.”

“Oh, there aren’t any hickeys,” the redhead hummed. “Thanks for not knowing what else to tell me.”

Lucas didn’t have a mirror, but he was certain that he’d never looked so scandalized before. “You’re the worst, Mayfield.”

“You’re just easy to get information out of, Sinclair,” the girl laughed. “C’mon, let’s go to the arcade next.”

 

* * *

 

Mike had never been the competitive type.

Well, that was a blatant lie. He was extremely competitive.

Even back in primary school, he’d always wanted to win every single competition he was in. He and his friends had always gotten first place in every single one of them as well, other than that one year when they’d gotten third — totally political and he wasn’t still bitter about it in the slightest,  _ no sir.  _ Then came the age of video games, and along with the party working with each other against nerds from other schools, or against monsters and villains in a fantasy world, sometimes they also competed against each other, fighting for that first place in Super Smash Bros or Mario Kart or whatever the game of that week was. It was during those times that he first found out Dustin was also extremely competitive. Of course, he already knew the curly-haired boy didn’t like losing very much, but he had never thought that he and the bard together could’ve ended up in something accidentally flying across the room. Fortunately, that had only been a book —  _ The Order of the Phoenix, _ but still just a book.

This was the least mad he’d ever been losing Mario Kart to someone that wasn’t Will. In his defense, the loser also kinda won.

“Sh-Shit!” He cursed when Lucas’ lips found another spot on his neck that made his toes curl, and the quiet chuckle the ranger let out was a clear confirmation that the guy was also aware of it.

After the wrestling match that had been interrupted by Dustin, they’d been in another match and had discovered where things would’ve gone if the bard hadn’t barged in the other day. Things had definitely been interesting, but the constant fight to pin the other person down had made things slightly less efficient.

The time after that, Lucas had been the one to suggest playing Mario Kart for the right to be dominant for the rest of the day — or to be more realistic, for about thirty minutes before one of them had to go home. Out of the three times they’d played that game, this was the first time Mike had lost.

“You know, I thought you would  _ hate _ this,” the ranger hummed.

“And I thought you’d be smart and take advantage of your only win,” Mike countered.

“Be careful,” Lucas grinned, “you don’t want to sound desperate, do you?”

“I’m just being a good person and reminding you that you won’t get this chance ever again,” the dungeon master rolled his eyes. If his friend wanted him not to sound desperate, he wouldn’t have started trying to draw out  _ sounds _ from the raven-haired teen five minutes ago.

“What if I enjoy looking at you like this just as much?” The other boy cocked an eyebrow, and the paladin could feel his entire body blushing, which, considering the position he was in, was kinda ridiculous.  _ Words are the things that are gonna make me blush to death. Not his lips on my neck trying to make me sound obscene, but his cheesy lines. _

The last two times, or as the raven-haired teen liked to call,  _ usually, _ Lucas would be on his back, with Mike hovering above him, kissing and making the other boy sound like a wreck. Today, things were the other way around, and the taller teen couldn’t say he didn’t enjoy this view either.

“Mike Wheeler,” Lucas continued with a sly smile on his lips, “pinned down, unable to do anything about it. Who would’ve thought?”

“Okay, you’re killing the mood now,” Mike said, despite his face turning redder and redder, “so keep talking and we’ll call it a day.”

“You don’t look like I’m killing your mood,” the ranger smirked before leaning down and whispering in his ear. “I bet the guys would agree that you looked hot like this as well.”

If anyone asked him, Mike was proud to say that the most difficult thing he’d managed to do in front of Lucas was not making any embarrassing sounds when hearing that. Unfortunately, the ranger was also looking straight into his eyes, and there was no way to hide his feelings on that front. “Just kiss me already,” he whispered, and the next things he felt were Lucas’ lips on his and the other teen’s fingers on the very spots that made his toes curl. It was definitely different from their first kiss, when he was slightly drunk and throwing caution to the wind as a boy he had a crush on suggested that they should kiss, or their second one, when he wanted the guy to have the perfect date on Valentine’s. This kiss, and the ones right before it, and undoubtedly the ones after it, were playful and daring, familiar and strange, like they were simultaneously exploring something new while reminding each other that this wasn’t just a fling.

He and Lucas hadn’t actually talked about what  _ this _ was exactly. They’d kissed, they’d gone on dates —  _ one date, but still _ — and talked to each other about their feelings for their two other best friends who were together, but they hadn’t defined the relationship. Mike was in no rush, though, since if he knew his friend, and he’d like to think he did, then Lucas wouldn’t just look for a convenient hookup or something similar.

Too soon for Mike’s liking, but could easily be five minutes later or something, Lucas pulled away to look at him again. “You know,” he hummed, “I don’t mind winning again. What if we take turns like this?”

“Already afraid you wouldn’t win?” The paladin snorted. “This doesn’t sound like you, Lukey.”

“Don’t be cocky,” the black teen chuckled. “I was afraid you’d be upset when I won the next five times, Mikey.”

“I don’t have a habit of losing,” the dungeon master reminded his friend. “Ask anyone. Even Dustin or Max.”

“Oh, speaking of Max,” Lucas suddenly lifted himself up and sat on Mike’s stomach, putting his hands on the raven-haired teen’s chest. “I have a feeling she knows what we’ve been doing.”

At that, Mike narrowed his eyes. “You hung out with her for an hour today. What could you possibly have done?”

“I didn’t do anything,” the ranger huffed. “She pointed at my neck and told me to tell you to be careful with leaving hickeys there.”

“But I didn’t leave any hickeys,” Mike protested.

“That’s what I told her,” Lucas mumbled, and Mike’s eyes widened.

“Oh, Lucas…”

“In my defense,” the other teen interrupted, “I couldn’t see my own neck, so it was impossible for me to know if she was tricking me.”

“So it’s safe to assume Jane also knows?” Mike asked.

“I’d assume so,” the ranger sighed. “I don’t think she’s gonna tell anyone else, though.”

“Good,” the dungeon master mumbled, “because I really don’t—”

“Yeah,” Lucas nodded. “He can be really scary for someone  _ that _ non-threatening.”

They both stayed quiet for a moment before Lucas’ grin turned mischievous once again. “Anyway…”

“Oh, sure,” Mike snorted. “Talks about your ex-girlfriend  _ always _ puts me in the mood.”

“What if I make up to you, though?” The other teen raised an eyebrow.

“How?” The paladin asked, looking into his friend’s eyes.

For about two seconds, Mike was met with nothing but silence. However, the answer came to him when he felt Lucas’ warm hand on his stomach — at least the part that had been exposed due to their activity. Along with it was a loud question his friend was trying to ask him.  **Is this okay?**

Ever since they started this  _ thing, _ neither of them had gone anywhere below the neck, so there was only one right answer to Mike.  **Oh, fuck, yes!**

The ranger chuckled before leaning down, and there was a knock on the door.

There was a knock on the door.

_ A fucking knock. On the door. _

Swallowing his frustrated groan, Mike cleared his throat. “Can’t you ask mom, Holly? I think she’s in the kitchen.”

The raven-haired teen loved his sisters. He loved one sister more than the other — Nancy would just have to deal with it — but he loved neither of them enough to stop this thing between him and Lucas to help them braid their hair.

“Actually, it’s me,” Dustin’s voice came from behind the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what do you think? Like it? Hate it? Wanna strangle Dustin for interrupting like some of my beta readers? Let me know in the comments.
> 
> I have a feeling the next chapter is gonna be extra long ;) Stay tuned for that.
> 
> Do any of you have a scenario you want them to be in? I might get inspiration from one of those as well.
> 
> Until next time (hopefully sometime this month)!

**Author's Note:**

> Come yell at me @[trashmouthdiangelo](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/trashmouthdiangelo) on tumblr.
> 
> * * *
> 
> Small thanks to @[castrateyourhumanpride](https://archiveofourown.org/users/castrateyourhumanpride), @[shewasthewind](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shewasthewind/), and @[trashmouthTM](https://archiveofourown.org/users/deasar/pseuds/trashmouthTM) for proofreading this, and my other WIPs as well.


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